Taiwanese rebound, sweep Kazakhs to book AVC Cup finals berth
CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — Sometimes, you learn from losing than winning.
It was the case with Chinese Taipei after it bounced back from its stinging loss to South Korea in pool play the night before with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-13 whitewash of Kazakhstan Saturday to claim the first ticket to the AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup finals at the Candon Sports Arena here.
The Taiwanese, the Pool A No. 2 seed, were a bit more resolute on this one and dominated the Kazakhs, the Pool B top seed, in the last two sets after surviving a closely fought opening frame.
The result catapulted Chinese Taipei to the finals and ensured it a best finish in the continental level.
Its previous best coming here were bronze finishes in the Asian Games (2006) and the Asian Nations Cup (2023 and last year).
But expect them to shoot for nothing less than a gold versus the winner between South Korea, Pool A’s No. 1, and Vietnam, Pool B’s No. 2 and the reigning three-peat champions.
“We hope Filipinos support us,” said Chinese Taipei skipper Liao Yi-Jen.
It was a heartbreaking setback for Kazakhstan, which came here as the prohibitive favorite after going into their duel with Taipei unbeaten in five outings, including a five-setter over the Vietnamese — the tournament favorites.
In that win also, Kazakhstan snapped Vietnam’s perfect 23-win record in this same annual meet.
But the Kazakhs didn’t pack that punch on this one while the Taiwanese were just determined to bounce back from that harrowing defeat versus the Koreans.
Meanwhile, Alas Pilipias clashes with Iran at 9:30 a.m. Sunday for seventh place.
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