Strong blocking propels Thailand to opening-match success

The first day of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship came to an end with a big celebration in Thailand’s capital Bangkok after the host country’s national team overcame Egypt to secure their first victory in the tournament.

The reigning Asian champions had moments of difficulty against the Africans, but counted on the support of the fans that packed the Huamark Indoor Stadium and a strong blocking performance to triumph 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-15, 25-11) and celebrate their first victory in Pool A.

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A team internationally respected for their defensive skills, Thailand impressed with a strong performance at the net, which saw them largely overcome the Egyptians in both kills (56 to 37) and blocks (16 to nine). The Asians also led in aces (four to three) and made fewer errors (17 to 22).

Opposite Pimpichaya Kokram was Thailand’s leading scorer in the match, producing 19 points (17 kills, two blocks). Middle blocker Thatdao Nuekjang led the Thais in blocks with four, tallying 16 points (11 kills, four blocks, one ace), two more than outside hitter Chatchu-On Moksri.

“Today was a great experience for our team,” Chatchu-On said. “It was a big surprise for us that we got so many blocks, and we want to keep it for the next matches alongside the other good things we did. But I think we can play better than we did today, and we’ll work to improve on some details for the next matches.”

Back on the World Championship for the first time since 2006, the Egyptians were proud of having taken a set from the home team in their opening match. Outside hitter Nada Meawad, who’s a beach volleyball Olympian, led the team with 14 points (ten kills, two blocks, two aces), two more than opposite Tokka Eassa.

“I’m proud that we fought for every single point today, but there are obviously some things we need to improve on,” Meawad remarked. “We started flat, and against a team of this level, this is really difficult. We need to start aggressively and continue in this way. We’ll work with our coaches on the things that didn’t go well and come back stronger.”

2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship: full schedule and results

With the three points collected, the Thais end the day at the top of the standings in Pool A as the other match of the day had the Netherlands and Sweden splitting points after the Dutch won 3-2 (25-27, 25-11, 25-21, 21-25, 15-9).

On Sunday, when the second round of matches will be held, the Netherlands and Egypt will play first, at 17:00 local time (10:00 GMT), with Thailand and Sweden ending the day at 20:30 local time (13:30 GMT).

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