Aiming to make their Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, the national team were on Monday (Jan 11) informed of the seven opponents with whom they must battle in May for the four available Olympic spots.
The No.13-ranked Thai women will meet hosts and world No.5 Japan, sixth-ranked Dominican Republic, No.8 Italy, South Korea (No.9), the Netherlands (No.17), Peru (No.21) and Kazakhstan (No.26).
Thailand must finish in the top four of the round-robin competition to qualify for the Olympics to be held in August.
“We do have a 50 per cent chance of booking a place for the Olympic Games,” said Sharnrit Wongprasert of the Volleyball Association of Thailand.
“Looking at the profile of each team, it will not be easy for us at all,” Sharnrit added.
However, he believes that if the team manage to win at least four matches, that would be enough to qualify for the Games.
“We have a good chance to beat Peru and Kazakhstan. The Netherlands will be tough but we have beaten them before,” he said.
Sharnrit added that the Dominican Republic, who were well beaten by the US a few days ago, will also be a tough opponent for Thailand.
“As for South Korea, they have not participated in a major tournament for a long time. I think our game against them will be very important as we would need a victory over them if we were to win an Olympic place,” he said.
“It will be tougher than our last attempt, but we still have time to prepare.
“In all, four wins should be enough for us to play at the Olympics for the first time.”
To prepare for the qualifying tournament, to be staged in Tokyo from May 14-June 5, the Thai players will start training together in March.
“Most of our players will be the same because we will need some experienced hands, although some might be picked from the U23 team,” Sharnrit said.
“A month-long training should be enough.”