JAKARTA – In the eyes of Thailand skipper Pleumjit Thinkaow, the Philippine side she batled in the 2018 Asian Games is better than past PH teams she has seen.
The Philippine spikers wasted a strong 9-2 start and slowly faded, losing to a superior Thailand squad, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15, on Sunday at the start of their campaign in the women's volleyball competition.
“Better than before,” said Pleumjit, who was accorded the honor of being the flag bearer of Thailand in the opening ceremonies on Saturday night.
Philippine head coach Shaq delos Santos said the team will use the comment of Pleumjit as motivation to improve further.
“Thank you doon,” said delos Santos. “Siyempre happy kami. Agree ako doon. Gusto namin mapakita rin na nag-iimprove din ‘yung team natin. And hopefully, habang tumatagal, mas mai-improve pa namin and talagang magtuluy-tuloy ‘yung ganitong klase ng exposure.”
Delos Santos said whatever improvement his team showed was weighed down by its lack of experience in international tournaments.
“I think mas kailangan lang nila ma-adapt ‘yung galawan sa ganitong klaseng tournament,” said delos Santos.
Errors also did the Philippine team in, he added.
“Para sa amin, ‘yung errors talaga namin. ‘Yung mga next set, service at receive. Kailangan pa naming ma-practice ng mga ilang araw. Nag-collapse kami pero kailangan namin ma-expose ‘yung mga players kasi may three games pa kami,” said delos Santos.
Thailand coach Danai Sriwacharamaytakul believes the exposure the Philippines is getting in the Asiad will help them in the long run.
“This tournament, I think the Philippines will improve further in the Asian Games,” said Sriwacharamaytakul.
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