![\"Thailand's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6211093_800.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEcstatic fans greet champs at airport<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThailand’s volleyball stars celebrate fourth continental crown \u2014 and historic Olympic ticket \u2014 at Suvarnabhumi airport.\u2009Thailand Volleyball Association\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Thailand’s history-making volleyball queens touched down to a hero’s welcome at Suvarnabhumi on Monday night, mobbed by fans still buzzing from Sunday’s Olympic-qualifying triumph over China.<\/p>\n
There was a vibrant atmosphere as fans packed the arrival hall at Suvarnabhumi airport to greet the players and coaching staff following their all-conquering campaign at AVC Tianjin 2026.<\/p>\n
Thailand edged hosts China in a 3-2 thriller to claim their fourth continental title on Sunday night and secured a direct place at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, becoming the first Southeast Asian nation to qualify for the global showpiece event.<\/p>\n
The Thais have also booked a spot at the 2027 FIVB World Cup in the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n
They were greeted by Somporn Chaibangyang, president of the Thailand Volleyball Association, Dr Gongsak Yodmani, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, and Tanukiat Chanchum, manager of the National Sports Development Fund, sponsors and other well-wishers.<\/p>\n
Team captain Pornpun Guedpard, who was named the Most Valuable Player and Best Setter of the tournament, said she felt incredibly proud of the team’s achievement.<\/p>\n
“Qualifying for the Olympics isn’t about any individual athlete or members of the national team, it is for all Thai people,” she said.<\/p>\n
“What contributed to this success was teamwork. Being a team made all the difference. And thank you so much to all Thai people for your unwavering support and encouragement,” she added.<\/p>\n
Coach Kiattipong Radchatagriangrai, who is already looking ahead to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in two years’ time, said the team must continue to develop.<\/p>\n
“There are 24 months, or two years, left for the Olympics. The volleyball association, the government, and everyone in the team will work closely together to get the team in the best shape for the Olympics.”<\/p>\n
He added, “we need to develop more players in every position. I would like to encourage all the young players to improve and become better. The year 2028 should be a good time for everyone.”<\/p>\n
The players are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at Government House on Thursday before departing for Japan for their final preparations for the 20th Asian Games.<\/p>\n
They will train in Fukuoka, with the women’s volleyball competition taking place between Sept 16-22.<\/p>\n
Thailand are in Pool C with Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia. China are the defending champions.<\/p>\n
Thailand have never won a volleyball gold medal at the Asian Games. They won bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games, silver in 2018 Jakarta-Palembang and bronze again at Hangzhou three years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ecstatic fans greet champs at airport Thailand’s volleyball stars celebrate fourth continental crown \u2014 and historic Olympic ticket…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123,126068],"class_list":["post-335381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-thailand-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}