Australia ended eighth place at the nine-day, 13-team 14th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship that closes Thursday in Thailand's northeastern province Nakhon Ratchasima.
In the 1st-8th finals round at The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima's MCC Hall, Australia faced an apparently over-powering rival South Korea, which found no problem beating Australia 25-17, 25-13, 25-7 in straight sets.
After this last match, Australia is set to rank eighth for the Asian meet with a string of seven losses in the top-eight finals round which plays a round-robin format.
The result is not so unexpected for the Australian girls facing stronger opponents, but a sharp contrast to the surprise triumph achieved by their fellow boys who had just grabbed the title at the 14th Asian Men's Volleyball Championship that closed Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The remaining matches for Thursday will see Japan vs Kazakhstan, Thailand vs China, Chinese Taipei vs Vietnam. The top three medals are set to be divided between Japan, China and Thailand.
South Korea, fresh from the victory over Australia and with a total four wins and three losses, is assured a seat in the top-five list.
The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) event, which opened on Sept. 5, is regarded as a qualification tournament for the upcoming World Cup this November, the Olympic Games qualification tournament next May and the 2008 World Grand Prix. Besides Olympic hosts China and Japan, only the top two teams from the Asian meet will make the cut for these three international games above.
Source: Xinhua
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