Thailand ended their Volleyball Nations League 2023 campaign with a defeat against Brazil at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium on Sunday night.
The Thai team lost to Brazil 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-23) -- their fourth straight defeat in the final week in the preliminary phase of the tournament and 10th overall.
They won only two games -- against Canada and South Korea -- during the first week of competition in Antalya, Turkey.
Thailand, who played in front of a sold-out stadium for the fourth time this week, couldn't deliver a win to their passionate fans, finishing 14th in the 16-team preliminary phase, but they got to see a stellar performance from Chatchu-On Moksri, who produced 20 points, with 18 kills, one ace and one block.
Italy also ended the preliminary phase with a win as the defending champions topped Japan 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22) earlier on Sunday.
Poland finished on top of the standings with 29. Hosts United States, Turkey, Brazil, China, Italy, Japan and Germany completed the line-up for the VNL Finals that will take place in Arlington, Texas, on July 12-16.
Brazil, led by an 18-point performance from their star player Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimaraes, bounced back from two straight defeats to make it to the quarter-finals where they will play fifth-placed China.
The other three quarter-finals, will have Poland meeting eighth-placed Germany, second-placed US battling seventh-placed Japan and third-placed Turkey meeting sixth-placed Italy.
The first two days of the finals will feature the quarter-finals, with two matches taking place on each day.
The winning teams will have a day off on July 14 before returning to the court on July 15 for the semi-finals. The medal matches will end the fourth edition of the tournament on July 16. bangkok post/volleyballworld.com