Thailand sweep Sweden in Bangkok and break pool

Backed by thousands of their home fans in Bangkok, Thailand dominated Sweden on Sunday and achieved their first goal at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, qualifying for the tournament’s elimination rounds.

The reigning Asian champions showed a much steadier performance than the one of their debut against Egypt and took the Europeans down 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-22) at the Huamark Indoor Stadium to secure their spot in the Round of 16.

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Earlier on Sunday, the Netherlands swept Egypt 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-13) to claim their second victory in the tournament. With that, Thais, which have six points, and Dutch, which got to five, are qualified for the elimination rounds, while Swedish, with one, and Egyptians, with zero, are out of contention.

Star opposite Pimpichaya Kokram stood out in the Thai victory, being the focal point of their offense with 23 points (20 kills, two aces, one block). Middle blocker Thatdao Nuekjang also got to double digits with 11 (ten kills, one block).

“We prepared very well for this match, we knew what we had to do and we followed the game plan very well,” Pimpichaya reacted. “We played with joy in front of our fans too. They help us a lot, they’re really amazing. We get a lot of energy from them.”

Swedish star opposite Isabelle Haak topped all scorers with 25 points (24 kills, one block), but her efforts weren’t enough to give her country’s national team its first victory in World Championship history.

“It’s been amazing for us to play in our first World Championship,” team captain and outside hitter Anna Haak, who scored ten points, remarked. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way, but Thailand played a really good game today. I think we played with fire in these first two matches and I want us to continue with it in our next game.”

The dynamic Thai offense was too much for Sweden and led the Asians to have a 14-point edge in kills, outscoring their opponents by 53 points to 39. Thailand fired five aces to Sweden’s two, but the Europeans had the most blocks – seven to four.

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

Pool play will be concluded for the four teams on Tuesday, when Sweden face Egypt at 17:00 local time (10:00 GMT) and Thailand and the Netherlands fight for first place at 20:30 local time (13:30 GMT).

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