NAKHON PATHOM: A sold-out crowd at Nakhon Pathom Sports Centre Gymnasium got their money's worth as South Korea pipped Thailand in a highly entertaining final match in Pool B of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Asian qualifiers on Sunday.
Despite having qualified for next year's tournament in Japan, yesterday's encounter was of great significance to Thailand and South Korea with both sides determined to finish the campaign as pool winners.
South Korea, looking to avenge their Asian Championship loss to the Kingdom's stars, got what they came for, winning the match 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) in 80 minutes to take the top spot in the pool.
"South Korea blocked well and served well today and that made it very tough for us," said captain Pleumjit Thinkaow. "But we will meet again next year at the world championship."
South Korea skipper Kim Yeon-Koung said: "We wanted to beat Thailand because we lost to them at the Asian Championship, and we did it. We played really well today.
"I would also like to thank the Thai fans. It's always fun playing here in Thailand."
Earlier, Vietnam picked up their first win of the campaign and condemned Iran to bottom place after a 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-17, 25-19) victory.
Meanwhile, China made it four out of four after crushing Taiwan 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-10) to finish as Pool A winners.
The loss in Almaty ended Taiwan's hopes of making it to Japan as the ticket went to hosts Kazakhstan, who cruised past Fiji 3-0 (25-8, 25-19, 25-14) to seal the runner-up spot, with three wins and one loss.
Japan have already qualified for the 24-nation finals as the host country, along with the United States, who are the defending champions.
South American champions Brazil and eight teams from Europe -- Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Azerbaijan, Germany, the Netherlands and Bulgaria -- have also earned their tickets to Japan.
The championship will be held from Sept 29 to Oct 20 next year.