Thailand survive against Canada and continue in the elite

Reigning Asian champions Thailand will continue in the Volleyball Nations League in 2026 after they ended this year’s edition of the tournament in 17^th place, avoiding the bottom of the standings.

The Thais had one final chance to avoid relegation on Sunday, when they faced Canada in Arlington, in their last match in the Preliminary Phase, and took it, getting the point they needed with a 3-2 (17-25, 25-23, 30-28, 23-25, 15-13) defeat.

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Despite entering the court on Sunday in 18^th place with just one win and five points accumulated in the VNL standings, Thailand depended only on their own efforts to continue in the elite of international volleyball. Because they had the same victories and points as Asian rivals Korea, they would continue in the elite if they won at least two sets against the Canadians, earning them one point.

The Thais had a good start to the match, winning the first set with authority, but couldn’t keep it up and saw the Canadians prevail in the key moments to take the next two. The Asians came back and won set four, getting what they needed to survive and send Korea into the relegation zone, and then went down in a tight tie-breaker.

Team captain Ajcharaporn Kongyot came up big when Thailand needed her the most, dropping an impressive 27 points (26 kills, one ace) in the victory against the Canadians. Star opposite Pimpichaya Kokram also stepped up, producing 23 points, all in kills.

"We knew what we had to do today, and we wanted to do it for our team and our fans," an emotional Ajcharaporn said. "I'm very proud of our team because we managed to stay in the VNL after going through so much adversity this season. We had some injuries and other things going on with the team, but we still could achieve our goal."

For Canada, which finished 16^th in the VNL 2025 with three wins and ten points, outside hitter Hilary Johnson was the leading scorer, with 25 points (22 kills, two blocks, one ace). Middle blocker Emily Maglio was also on fire, getting 19 points, with ten kills, eight blocks and one ace.

"It feels amazing to end on a win," Johnson said. "We worked really hard, but had trouble getting the win, so this is such a nice way to finish it. I'm really proud of my team. We'll not rest a little bit and get back in the gym with a few more athletes and push to keep improving in the way we are."

Korea go down after appearing in each of the first seven editions of the VNL and having a 12^th-place finish in the inaugural 2018 season as their best result. The Asians will be replaced in the VNL 2026 by the highest-ranked national team in the FIVB Volleyball Ranking at the end of the current edition of the VNL that did not participate in 2025.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

Earlier on Sunday, Germany defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-20, 25-13, 21-25, 25-21). The last match of the week at the College Park Center will reunite hosts the United States and China and is set to start at 19:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

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