The latest update on the Thailand women's national volleyball team before departing for the major tournament, the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) first week. Recently, Coach Ott, Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai, revealed the team's readiness and key strategies, focusing on physical fitness and preparation for the opening big match.
Coach Ott said that for this first week, the coaching staff and players are highly focused on facing the Serbia national team in the opening match. Serbia is the reigning world champion with tall, strong players. Over the past week, Thailand has thoroughly studied and analyzed the opponents, especially the key players, to devise counter-strategies and aims to showcase their potential to win.
The most interesting issue in this tournament is "endurance" Coach Ott stated that over the past three weeks, the coaching staff has worked closely with the sports science and sports physiology teams, intensively training so that every player's body is fully fit. Although there is some soreness from heavy training, all have sufficient strength and endurance. They are capable of playing extended matches lasting five sets throughout all four games in this first week.
"Our strategy is that winning is best, but if we lose, we hope it will be 3-2. We will fight with everything we have. I believe everyone can comfortably play five sets in four games," he said. Coach Ott added.
Regarding team management, since China is nearby with a flight time of about four hours, the team decided to bring 15 players to allow flexibility in substitutions if injuries occur. However, only 14 players will be officially registered on site. About 10 other players, including injured ones, will remain training intensively in Thailand, ready to rotate in the following weeks.
Furthermore, Coach Ott praised the senior players who spent three weeks in camp mentoring and sharing techniques with the promising young players who recently impressed in the Thailand League. This created an "effective communication system" within the team, helping seniors and juniors quickly adapt to each other and significantly reducing pressure on the newcomers.
After arriving in China in the evening and resting well, the Thai women's team will start training the next day. The morning session (10:00 – 12:30) is divided into two parts: 90 minutes of skill and technique practice, followed by fitness training to maintain muscle condition.
In the afternoon, they will participate in the World Children's Day event hosted by the organizers along with the Chinese national team, before practicing on the main court on the second day.
Thailand National Team Match Schedule (VNL 2026 Week One)
(All times Thailand Time)
Wednesday, 3 June 2026, 14:00 – Thailand vs. Serbia
Thursday, 4 June 2026, 18:30 – Thailand vs. China (Host)
Friday, 5 June 2026 – Rest day (Thailand has no match)
Saturday, 6 June 2026, 14:00 – Thailand vs. Belgium
Sunday, 7 June 2026, 10:30 – Thailand vs. Czech Republic