Thailand suffered their second successive loss in the second round of the FIVB women's world championship yesterday, a result which effectively ended their hopes of qualifying for the final six of the tournament with two games remaining.
The injury-hit Thais went down to unbeaten Italy in straight sets 25-15, 25-12, 25-15 at the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium.
They also lost to the world's top-ranked team China 3-0 in their Pool F opener on Sunday.
Italy are on top of the pool with 21 points after claiming their seventh straight win.
Defending champions United States (7-0), who beat Turkey 3-0 earlier in the day, are second on 19 points.
China (6-1) and Russia (6-1), who beat Azerbaijan and Bulgaria respectively, both have 18 points.
Thailand are fifth on 10 points and with only two matches to play and a maximum of six points up for grabs will not overtake any team currently occupying the top four position.
Serbia (7-0) led Pool E in Nagoya with 21 points, followed by Netherlands (7-0) on 20 points. Hosts Japan (6-1) are third on 18 while fourth-placed Brazil (5-2) have 16 points.
Fifth-placed Germany (4-3), with 11 points, still have a mathematical chance to progress while Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico have already been eliminated.
The top three teams in each of the two second round pools will advance to the third round to be played in Nagoya. The semi-finals and finals of the competition will be played in Yokohama from Oct 19-20.
Onuma Sittirak Onuma (13) and Apinyapong Wilavan (7) contributed 20 points between them on a night when little went right for the tiring Thais against a fiercely determined Italy.
Paola Egonu led Italy's scoring with 15 points, captain Cristina Chirichella added 12 and Anna Danesi scored 11.
"It was a really difficult match. Italy is a strong team and we could not cope with the ball speed," said captain Pleumjit Thinkaow.
Thailand will play their third match tomorrow against Bulgaria and will take on Turkey in the final game on Thursday. Both matches will be shown live on Workpoint (23) at 11.25am.
