Blue and yellow clearly lost to Thailand with 18–25, 20–25, 22–25 and with one point after two played World Championship matches in Bangkok, the chance of advancing from the group is gone already before Tuesday's last match against Egypt.
First and foremost, they played a really good volleyball. We prepared ourselves as well as we could, but we knew they had many cards to play. They really used their entire attacking game and played very fast, says Isabelle Haak to SVT.
”Another level”
Asian volleyball differs from the European style of play. Sweden had a training match against, for example, South Korea before the World Championship, but that lesson was not enough to shake Thailand.
It was another level today. They played us out. We did what we could, but it was not enough, says Isabelle Haak.
In the World Championship premiere against the Netherlands – loss with 2–3 – Isabelle Haak scored 31 points. Now it became 25 points, but the three-time Champions League winner was too alone in the attacking game. Blue and yellow did not get to their serves, above all.
Then they could continue playing their fast game. We really tried, but it was not enough today, says Haak.
The Swedish players had talked before the championship about the experience of playing in front of the "crazy" home crowd in Thailand. Indeed, it was sometimes deafening noise from the more than 5,500 spectators in the arena in Bangkok.
It was fantastic with the pressure on the stands. It was really fun, even if it was to Thailand's advantage, says Isabelle Haak.
Finishing against Egypt
Thailand tops the group with a maximum of six points – one point ahead of the Netherlands, which earlier on Sunday beat Egypt with 3–0 in sets.
On Tuesday, Sweden and the zero-pointers Egypt will compete in a match to avoid the bottom spot in the group.
In the volleyball World Championship, it requires a win with 3–0 or 3–1 in sets to take home three points. With a win of 3–2 in sets, the winning team gets two points and the losing team gets one point.
