Thailand opened the third week of the Volleyball Nations League with a straight-sets loss to the Netherlands, despite the support from a raucous crowd of hometown fans in Bangkok.
The two sides each entered Tuesday evening’s match at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium with just two wins in eight matches in the first two weeks of the preliminary round.
Each desperately needed a victory if they wanted to have a shot at advancing to the finals next month. The Dutch women prevailed in the end, 28-26, 25-18 and 25-20.
The Thais entered this week’s Pool 6 competition in 13th place, one spot behind the Netherlands, in the 16-team tournament.
Thailand’s next match will be on Thursday night against third-ranked Turkey. Fifth-ranked Brazil, seventh-ranked Italy, Croatia and Canada round out Pool 6.
The preliminary phase of the Volleyball Nations League features three weeks of competition, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches.
The top eight teams after the preliminary round qualify for the final phase, which will be held in Arlington, Texas from July 12-16.
Thailand made history last year when they entered the top-eight tournament for the first time. But this year they lost all their matches in the second week in Brazil where they were defeated by Germany, the USA, Serbia and Croatia.