Thailand off to winning start at worlds

Brazil and US also record impressive victories in openers

Thailand secured their first victory at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship after beating Egypt 3-1 at Bangkok’s Indoor Stadium on Friday night.

The reigning Asian champions had moments of difficulty against the African side, but counted on the support of the fans that packed stadium and a strong blocking performance to prevail 25-15, 23-25, 25-15, 25-11 in Pool A.

Opposite spiker Pimpichaya Kokram was Thailand’s top scorer in the match, producing 19 points (17 kills, two blocks). Middle blocker Thatdao Nuekjang led the Thais in blocks with four, tallying 16 points (11 kills, four blocks, one ace), two more than outside hitter Chatchu-On Moksri.

Outside hitter Nada Ahmed Houssameldein led Egypt’s attack with 14 points while opposite Toqaallah Eassa had 12 points.

“Today was a great experience for our team,” said Chatchu-On. “It was a big surprise for us that we got so many blocks, and we want to keep it going for the next matches alongside the other good things we did. But I think we can play better than we did today, and we’ll work to improve on some details for the next matches.”

Coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai admitted the match was far from easy and his team still need to improve in many areas of the game.

“We know that the first match of any tournament is always difficult. The players started off a little bit nervous but they improved as the match went on so that was good,” said Kiattipong.

“But there are things that we need to work on. We can see that in the second and the third sets the players weren’t clinical enough and they couldn’t win some of the long rallies. We will have a day off to prepare for our next match against Sweden on Sunday,” he added.

The coach singled out opposite Isabelle Haak, who scored 31 points against the Netherlands, as the key player for the Swedes.

“[Isabelle] Haak played very well against the Netherlands and was the top scorer. She was great in attacks and also served well in that game. Sweden have good, strong blocking and the players are very tall, we must be very detailed with our game plan,” he added.

With the three points in pocket, the Thais ended the day at the top of the standings in Pool A as the other match had the Netherlands and Sweden splitting points after the Dutch won 3-2 (25-27, 25-11, 25-21, 21-25, 15-9).

Thailand will play Sweden on Sunday at 8.30pm while the Netherlands will face Egypt at 5pm.

Italy stay unbeaten

Reigning Olympic and Nations League champions Italy extended their winning streak to 30 matches as they swept past Slovakia 3-0 in their opening Pool B match in Phuket.

The Italians defeated world championship first-timers Slovakia 25-20, 25-14, 25-17), with star opposite Paola Egonu scoring a game-high 15 points (12 kills, two blocks, one ace).

Belgium also recorded a 3-0 win in their Pool B opener, beating Cuba 25-23, 25-14, 25-11 in the Southern city.

In Chiang Mai, South American giants Brazil started their campaign with a 3-0 victory against Greece in Pool C.

Playing at the Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, the Brazilians were in control from start to finish as they dominated the Europeans 25-18, 25-15, 25-16.

France also started the campaign with a four-set victory over Puerto Rico.

Back in the world championship for the first time in 51 years, the Europeans crowned their return with a 25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 25-14 win, outplaying their opponents on all scoring counts, except for the unforced errors.

In Pool D, United States defeated debutants Slovenia in four sets in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Skinner sisters — Avery and Madisen — combined for 28 points as the Americans triumphed 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 25-14 and secure their first victory of the world championship.

In the other pool match, Argentina came back from a set down to upset Czech Republic in four.

The South Americans took advantage of the excessive unforced errors their European opponents committed during the game to snatch a 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 26-24) win.