Asian Women's Championship

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Sept.20 - Japan took revenge on Thailand for their defeat two years ago with a 3-0 win over Thailand while China smashed Kazakhstan also in straight sets on the first day of the 12th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship here on Saturday.

Thailand lost to Japan 3-0 unexpectedly in a Group A match, as the Thai team beat Japan at last edition in Thailand and won the third place for the first time in the Championship's history.

In today's match Japan resisted the speedy attack by their opponents to take the match 25-18,25-23,25-15. Thailand took an early 8-4 lead in the opening set but Japan responded swiftly and tied at 17-17. Japan's tight defense allowed them to launch a 8-1 run to win the first set 25-18.

Again Thailand had the edge in the opening of the second set and were 16-13 going into the second time out before a series of costly mistakes let Japan back into the set, which they went on to win 25-23.Japan then took firm control of the third set and Yoshie Takeshita and Yuko Sano, both less than 160 cm high, were in high digging form and contributed to Japan closing out 25-15.

Defending champions China easily claimed the win over Kazakhstan 25-12, 25-13 and 25-14 in less than an hour. China seemed more comfortable in the humid climate of Ho Chi Minh City and took an easy 25-12 win in the first set, well supported by the high flying attacks of Yang Hao and Wang Lina.

Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe said he would field in more young players in the competition to give them experience at international level."This is a easy win for China, " said Chen, "But this is not the final, we will face South Korea, Japan or even Thailand shortly afterward. They are the key matches, we have to prepare for them from today."

In other action, host Vietnam defeated New Zealand 3-0 (25-19, 25-7, 25-16) in Group A while the Philippines edged Australia, 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 12-25, 15-12).

Ten teams are playing the preliminaries in two groups and the top four teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals. The Championships will run from September 20 to 27. The two top finishers qualify for the World Cup in November in Japan, the first Olympic qualifier.

Results and Standings
Day One
Group A
Japan beat Thailand, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-15)
Vietnam beat New Zealand 3-0 (25-19, 25-7, 25-16)
Group B
Philippines beat Australia, 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 12-25, 15-12)
China beat Kazakhstan, 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-14)