CITY of Candon — Cambodia continued its magical run in Week One of the SEA V Cup, eliminating defending champion Thailand, 25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 25-17, on Saturday to reach the gold medal match at the Candon City Arena.
Winless in eight matches last season, Cambodia returned with renewed mindset and is now assured of at least the silver medal.
Cambodia also proved the win over Alas Pilipinas in the opener was no fluke, following it up with a giant-slaying performance in the tournament presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and the City of Candon headed by Mayor Eric D. Singson.
Voeurn Veasna starred anew for Cambodia, delivering 21 points on 17 attacks, two blocks and two aces.
Kuon Mom had 13 points on 10 attacks, two aces and a block, while Thy Menghuong scored 12 on 11 attacks and a block.
Veasna, a former teammate of Philippine star Bryan Bagunas in the Taipei pro league, revealed one major improvement that raised the Cambodians’ game.
“The most that has changed is mentality,” Veasna said.
“We learned from our mistakes,” he said, adding that the game plan was to just focus on Thailand.
“We don’t care about tomorrow, today we just finished our game … tomorrow we fight again,” Veasna said.
Although they won the two matches in the preliminaries, the tough run continues for the Thais after a sixth-place finish in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Men’s Cup.
Thungkham Chaiwat had 20 points, while Khonhan Amornthep scored 17 for Thailand, which plays in the bronze medal match against the loser of the Indonesia-Vietnam semifinal.
Alas Pilipinas salvaged fifth place by holding off unheralded Myanmar, 25-21, 28-26, 25-22, on Saturday.
