ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14: Thailand to meet Malaysia, Vietnam plays Korea in semi-finals

Thailand national women’s team

BANGKOK: The national women’s team, who have already qualified for the ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand 2013/14 semi-finals, defeated Vietnam 15-8, 15-8 to top Group A without dropping a single set in all their group matches.

With third seeds Vietnam having qualified alongside the hosts, both teams did not play to their full capabilities, something which coach Veeras Nongkhai had no complaints about.

“Vietnam did not put up a fight or play their normal game and it was the same with us,” he said. “But we did use this match to try out new strategies that we may employ in the semi-finals.”

The top seeds and defending champions, who also won ISTAF SuperSeries 2011/2012 without the loss of a single set, have continued along the same path here, defeating both India and Japan in straight sets. They will meet Malaysia in the semi-finals, and Veeras hopes that the fourth seeds will put up a fight.

“We need Malaysia to challenge us and give us a good fight to make the match more interesting,” he said, adding that he was ‘100% confident’ of making it to the final and winning their second consecutive SuperSeries leg of 2013/14.

The women’s group matches ended today with Japan beating India 15-10, 15-11 in Group A and Korea defeating China 15-8, 15-5 in Group B. The Koreans join Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, who were awarded an automatic 2-0 walkover win over Indonesia in their last match, in the semis.

The men’s team have already made the quarter-finals after defeating both Iran and Brunei in straight sets in their Group D matches. They will take on Singapore tomorrow.

Other men’s matches today saw first-leg champions Korea defeating India 15-4, 15-3 in Group A, Japan defeating Germany 15-6, 15-9 in Group B, Singapore defeating the United States 15-9, 17-16 in Group C and Iran beating Brunei 15-8, 15-7, 15-8 in Group D.

The second leg of the internationally-recognised tournament, September 26-29, features the world’s best men’s and women’s teams in competition at Fashion Island, one of Bangkok’s largest shopping malls.

The ISTAF SuperSeries platform is created by Asia Sports Ventures (ASV) – ISTAF’s exclusive global commercial and development partner. ISTAF SuperSeries THAILAND 2013/14 is supported by local organisers Takraw Association of Thailand (TAT).

The second leg in Bangkok will be followed by ISTAF SuperSeries MALAYSIA 2013/14 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from October 31-November 3. The 2013/14 season kicked off with ISTAF SuperSeries INDIA from August 29 to September 1.

ResultsISTAF SuperSeries THAILAND 2013/14September 27

Men’s competitionGroup A: Korea bt India 2-0 (15-4, 15-3)Group B: Japan bt Germany 2-0 (15-6, 15-9)Group C: Singapore bt USA 2-0 (15-9, 17-16)Group D: Iran bt Brunei 2-1 (15-8, 7-15, 15-8)

Women’s competitionGroup A: Thailand bt Vietnam 2-0 (15-8, 15-8); Japan bt India 2-0 (15-10, 15-11)Group B: Korea bt China 2-0 (15-8, 15-5); Malaysia w/o Indonesia 2-0

Fixtures (September 28)Men’s quarter-finalsMalaysia vs China; Thailand vs Singapore; Korea vs Japan; USA vs Iran

Women’s semi-finalsMalaysia vs Thailand; Korea vs Vietnam