Thailand suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss against Russia in the second Pool C match of the FIVB women's world championship in Japan on Sunday night.
The Asian Games silver medallists threatened to cause a huge upset after winning the first two sets against the below-par Russia. But the world No.5 side found their form just in time to win the next three to secure a superb comeback win (21-25, 17-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-9) at Kobe Green Arena.
Nataliya Goncharova led the Russian revival with a game-high 30 points while middle blocker Irina Koroleva added 17. For the second night running, Pimpichaya Kokram led Thailand with 19 points.
The Thai blockers, led by captain Pleumjit Thinkaow, pressured Russian spikers into making errors in the first set.
The Russians continued to make far too many unforced errors in attack in the second set and the Thais pulled away to take a 2-0 lead on their third set point with a winner from Ajcharaporn Kongyot.
Goncharova sparked Russia into life in the third set after some tactical changes while wing spiker Irina Voronkova also caused problems for Thailand.
Russia led 16-8 at the second technical timeout and when Irina Fetisova easily blocked Ajcharaporn down the middle it summed up the change in the complexion of the game. Russia, now firing on all cylinders, took the third set to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Thais looked refreshed in the fourth set as Russia, too, had found their groove and more consistency in attack.
Thailand, finding spaces down the sides to keep the points flowing, led 16-15 at the second technical timeout. Goncharova finished this critical set strongly and Russia pulled level at 2-2 when they converted the first of three set points.
The tie-break was packed with dizzying rallies as the Thais recovered a series of seemingly lost causes to keep the ball in play and thrill the appreciative crowd who had defied typhoon warnings to cheer on the teams.
Russia took an 8-7 lead and won a challenge to make it 10-8 before stretching the lead to five points at 13-8 and closing the match 15-9.
Thailand are third in the pool with three points. Defending champions United States are on top with a maximum six points following another 3-0 win yesterday. Russia are second on five points, followed by Azerbaijan, who beat South Korea 3-1 yesterday, on three points. The Koreans (0-2) are fifth with one point while Trinidad and Tobago (0-2) are bottom.
Thailand will be back on the court on Tuesday to play winless Trinidad and Tabago. Russia will take on Azerbaijan while the US will play South Korea, also without a win after two games.
Earlier, the Americans cruised to a second straight victory after beating Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-11) in a one-sided contest. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, bounced back with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18) victory over South Korea.
The top-four teams from the pool will qualify for the second round.