Ruby Sorra & Emma Glagau last competed in Thailand at the 2021 U19 World Championships in Phuket, where they completed their run in fifth place. The Canadian athletes are back in the Asian country for the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships and they are lapping up the love from the smiling, animated and adoring spectators of Roi-Et.
Beach U21 World Champs 2023
Canada’s Sorra & Glagau relish affection of Roi-Et crowd
The up-and-coming Canadian duo are riding the wave of adulation in their second competition in Thailand
Published 07:26, 09 Nov 2023
“It’s been amazing. It’s so cool. Every time someone asks me what’s my favorite place been to travel, I usually say Thailand. I think the culture here is one of the most prevalent places around the world and that’s so cool. Having everyone on the same board of treating everyone with respect and kindness, and just putting others first. A lot of cultures can learn a lot from the people here,” Glagau said.
“The energy, as well, like the amount of people that watches even if it’s not Thailand playing and cheering for any country is so cool. We don’t see that in a lot of countries. And I just love the energy that it brings,” Sorra added.
After dropping their first match on the first day of the main draw tournament, the Canadian duo have since bounced back amid the hot weather with a straight-set victory (21-14, 21-14) over Malaysia’s Farwizah Aina Ahmad Nizar & Shamsulrizal Nur Auni Maisarah on Thursday, amid the hot weather.
“Yesterday was the first game and we just arrived two days earlier. We were adjusting to the climate and the area. Today we just went in with a different mindset of just going with it, trying our best. And it came out pretty good,” Sorry explained.
The two have been playing together for almost five years and that involved a lot of acclimatizing, balancing studies and competition, but also having a good understanding of the value of representing Canada in international competitions.
“I’d say that the team aspect is probably the biggest difference being here. Playing together for the past four or five years, it’s just been us and a coach. And then at our colleges, there’s 20 to 25 plus girls that we got to all consider. I think that’s great having a team aspect while also being 2v2. It adds both individual aspect and team aspect, so you can learn both,” Glagau described.
“Although we play for Team Canada, we practice in other places. We practice in America, some people go to Brazil to train or stay in California, so it’s just kind acclimatizing to whatever we can. And then we come home in the summer, we get about five months of nice weather to be able to train outside,” Sorra ended.