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Indonesia spikes Malaysia, still faces daunting task
(JP/Ricky Yudhistira)Indonesiaâs female volleyball team bounced back to beat Malaysia 25-13, 25-23, 25-10 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore, on Friday, with regional powerhouse Thailand being its most likely opponent in the next stage
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(JP/Ricky Yudhistira) (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
(JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Indonesia's female volleyball team bounced back to beat Malaysia 25-13, 25-23, 25-10 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore, on Friday, with regional powerhouse Thailand being its most likely opponent in the next stage.
It was Indonesia's second win, having suffered a shocking 2-3 loss to Vietnam on Thursday. With Vietnam expected to overcome the Philippines in the last Pool A match on Saturday, Indonesia is likely to finish as runner-up and to face Pool B winner Thailand in the semifinals.
Thailand was the winner of Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold six times in a row, from 2001 to 2011. Thailand becomes the group winner after defeating Singapore and Myanmar. Indonesia scored a 3-0 win over the Philippines in the first Pool B preliminary round on Wednesday before bowing out to Vietnam 2-3 the following day.
Indonesian volleyballers stole the spotlight at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore after a Philippines official proposed that a member of the Indonesian team, Aprilia Santini Manganang, be subjected to a gender test, a request that was later rejected by the Games' official.
Aprilia had not seemed affected by the controversy when the team went up against the Philippines. Neither was she on Friday as her powerful spikes earned eight points over all.
The team kept solid and showed a promising start to wrap the first set 25-13.
In the second set, the Malaysian team tried to redeem the first set's loss by attacking more aggressively.
The strategy worked, but did not work enough to play havoc on the opponents' defense as Indonesia, which fielded a second-layer lineup, played a resolute game to end the second set 25-23.
The third set went more smoothly for Indonesia, with the team taking an 8-0 lead. The Malaysian team tried to catch up on points, but they were only able to score 10 to Indonesia's 25.
'They played extraordinarily well today. I can't find any flaws,' said coach Muhammad Ansori, giving a compliment to his squad.
He said he intentionally let the second-layered team play on Friday because he knew Indonesian team was better than Malaysia.
'We are two levels above them. They played without burden and won,' Ansori added.
'The next match against Thailand in the semifinals on Sunday will be the real battle. Hopefully we can prepare the girls 200 percent against Thailand, the defending champion for six Games in a row,' said Ansori.
Aprilia, who seemed to become more popular among the locals after the news about the gender test request broke, got many requests to pose for pictures from the sports service volunteers.
'I was a bit exhausted after the match against Vietnam yesterday but thank God we can win,' she told journalists.
'Hopefully we can make the best result against Thailand. They will be a tough opponent as they have a solid team and often have tryouts abroad,' said Aprilia.
