Kobe, Japan, September 30, 2018 - Thailand and Russia have won their matches on the first day and will clash to gain the 2-0 edge in Kobe in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.
Head-to-head
• Thailand have won of their 15 major encounters at world level against Russia.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Grand Champions Cup and Nations League.
• That one Thailand major victory over Russia came at the 2013 Grand Champions Cup, where Thailand prevailed 3-1 in Tokyo, Japan.
• These sides met once before at the World Championship. Four years ago, Russia brushed Thailand aside in straight sets in Verona.
• Earlier this year, these teams met in the Nations League. On 16 May, Russia emerged victorious 3-1 in Yekaterinburg.
Thailand• Thailand beat Republic of Korea in a five-setter on Saturday.
• This was Thailand's first ever five-set match at World Championships. Their previous 22 matches were all decided in three or four sets.
• Thailand could win back-to-back World Championship matches for the second time, after wins against Kazakhstan (3-1) and Croatia (3-0) in 2010.
• Pimpichaya Kokram scored 25 points for Thailand against Republic of Korea to become the top scorer in the match.
Russia• Russia started their World Championship run with a 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago, conceding only 44 points in that match.
• Russia maintained their 100% winning record in opening matches at the World Championship (17 editions).
• The last time Russia failed to win their second fixture at the World Championship was in 2002: 3-2 against United States.
• Nataliya Goncharova was her team's most prolific scorer against Trinidad and Tobago, netting 13 points.