Wilavan Apinyapong ( th, วิลาวัณย์ อภิญญาพงศ์; RTGS: Wilawan Aphinyaphong, born June 6, 1984) is a Thai professional volleyball player who plays for Azerbaijan Club

Igtisadchi Baku Igtisadchi Baku is an Azerbaijani women's volleyball club. History Igtisadchi Baku was founded in the Summer of 2008 and immediately got the right to participate in the Azerbaijan Super League, qualifying after just one season to the CEV Wome ...

in the Azerbaijan Super League and the Thai National Team as an Outside Hitter. She was the captain for the

Thailand women's national volleyball team The women's national volleyball team of Thailand ( th, วอลเลย์บอลหญิงทีมชาติไทย) represents the Thailand in international volleyball competitions. It is managed by the Thailand Volleyball Associa ...

from 2008 to 2016 when Pleumjit took the captain role. Apinyapong led the Thai team to win the first gold medal at

2009 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship The 2009 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship was the fifteenth edition of the Asian Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Volleyball Federation of Vietnam (VFV) ...

and beaten China 3-1 for the first time in history. She again led the team to victory in the

2013 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship The 2013 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship was the seventeenth edition of the Asian Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Thailand Volleyball Association (TVA) ...

where she also received the MVP award of the event.

Career

Apinyapong signed with the Spanish professional club IBSA Club Voleibol for the 2007–2008 season of the Spanish Superliga, playing with her countrymate

Nootsara Tomkom Nootsara Tomkom ( th, นุศรา ต้อมคำ; ) is a Thai volleyball player. She has been selected to play for the Thailand women's national volleyball team 39 times. Career She participated at the 2006 FIVB World Grand Prix. Tomkom ...

. For the next two seasons, she and some of her Thai teammates, such as

Malika Kanthong Malika Kanthong ( th, มลิกา กันทอง, born January 8, 1987) is a member of the Thailand women's national volleyball team. Career Malika won the Best Server individual award of the 2015–16 Azerbaijan Super League season, p ...

Amporn Hyapha Amporn Hyapha ( th, อำพร หญ้าผา, , ; born 19 May 1985) is a member of the Thailand women's national volleyball team. Career Hyapha played with Bangkok Glass in 2017–18 Thailand League (Second leg) She is on the list 2019 ...

signed with the Turkish club

Ereğli Belediye Ereğli Belediyesi Spor Kulübü is the women's volleyball club based in Konya, Turkey. Current squad See also * ''See also Turkey women's national volleyball team The Turkey women's national volleyball team ( tr, Türkiye Kadın ...

and had a successful club career there. In 2010, she signed with the Chinese club

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

under coach Jenny Lang Ping. Along with the Olympics MVP

Feng Kun Feng Kun (; born 28 December 1978 in Beijing) is a retired China women's national volleyball team setter and captain. She was awarded MVP and Best Setter award at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where China won the gold medal in volleyball. ...

, Yang Hao,

Logan Tom Logan Maile Lei Tom (born May 25, 1981) was an American indoor volleyball, beach volleyball player, and is current head coach of the Israel women's national volleyball team. She is a four-time Olympian at the outside hitter position. At age 19, ...

Jovana Brakočević Jovana Brakočević Canzian ( sr-cyrl, Јована Бракочевић Канцијан; born 5 March 1988) is a Serbian volleyball player, who was a member of the Serbia women's national volleyball team that won the silver medal at the 2016 Su ...

. She was benched most of the time during the season because of the limitation on foreigner players were only two foreign players were allowed on the court. Next season, she moved to another Chinese club team

Fujian Xi Meng Bao Fujian Anxi Tiekuanyin Women's Volleyball Club is a professional volleyball team based in Xiamen, Fujian that plays in the Chinese Volleyball League. The team now is sponsored by Anxi Tiekuanyin Group. CVL results Team roster 2016-2017 ...

and played alongside good friend

Pleumjit Thinkaow Pleumjit Thinkaow ( th, ปลื้มจิตร์ ถินขาว; ; born 9 November 1983) is a Thai volleyball player. She was a member of the Thailand women's national volleyball team. Her international debut was at the 21st SEA Game ...

and Chinese Olympics bronze medalist

Xu Yunli Xu Yunli (; born 2 August 1987) is a Chinese volleyball player. She was part of the gold medal winning team at the 2006 Asian Games and the silver medal winning team at the 2007 World Grand Prix. Career Xu played at the 2013 Club World Champio ...

. The Thai team went on to finish in fourth place at the 2012 World Grand Prix, making it the best result for Thailand since

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

as the Thai team participated for the first time. After winning the gold medal against China at the

2012 Asian Women's Cup Volleyball Championship The 2012 Asian Women's Volleyball Cup, so-called 2012 AVC Cup for Women was the third edition of the Asian Cup, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Kazakhstan Volleyball Feder ...

, Apinyapong and her 6 other teammates signed for

and helped the team to win the silver medal at the

2012–13 Azerbaijan Women's Volleyball Super League The 2012/13 season of the Azerbaijan Women's Volleyball Super League ( az, Azərbaycan Volleybol Superliqası), was the annual season of the country's highest volleyball level and was conquered for 5th time in a row by Rabita Baku. Teams # Rabi ...

. They also qualified for the 2013/2014

CEV Women's Champions League The Women's CEV Champions League, formerly known as CEV Champions Cup (from 1960 to 2000), is the top official competition for women's volleyball clubs of Europe and takes place every year. It is organized by the Confédération Européenne de V ...

for the very first time since the club was founded. In 2013 she received the MVP award at the

. She extended the contract with

for one more year and was subsequently appointed captain. In late 2013, after winning the gold medal at

2013 Southeast Asian Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games ( my, ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ် အရှေ့တောင် အာရှ အားကစား ပြိုင်ပွဲ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and comm ...

, Apinyapong said that she will not go to compete at the

2014 FIVB Women's World Championship Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

because she is set to join the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

in Incheon,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, considering that she might have a chance to win at least one medal. In 2015 she played with the local

Bangkok Glass BG Pathum United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบีจี ปทุม ยูไนเต็ด) is a Thai professional football club based in Pathum Thani province and is managed by BG Sports Company Limited which is ...

on loan. She also played on loan with

in 2016. She moved to the Vietnamese

VTV Bình Điền Long An VTV Binh Dien Long An is a Vietnamese women's volleyball team from Long An, Vietnam. The club was founded in 1986 and plays in the Vietnam League History The start of the club's women's volleyball team Long An Textile was established in 1986, ...

in 2017, playing on loan. She is on the list 2019 Korea-Thailand all star super match competition. After not qualifying to the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wilavan decided to retire after representing Thailand for 20 years, along with Nootsara.

Personal life

Apinyapong married

Nattapong Kesapan Nattapong Kesapan ( th, นัฐพงษ์ เกศาพันธ์; RTGS: Nattapong Kesapan, born July 25, 1987) is a member of the Thailand men's national volleyball team. Personal life Nattapong Kesapan married with Wilavan Apinyapon ...

, at Kham Sakaesaeng,

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat o ...

on 7 May 2017. Apinyapong graduated from

Bangkok University University (BU; th, มหาวิทยาลัยกรุงเทพ; ), commonly known as Mo Krung Thep ( th, มอกรุงเทพ), has operated since 1962, is one of the oldest and largest private, non-profit universities in ...

with a bachelor and a master's degree.

Clubs

* Vinh Long VC (2006–2007) *

Sang Som SangSom (แสงโสม) is a rum from Thailand, distilled from sugarcane. It was introduced in November 1977 and has since become a dominant brand in the Thai spirits market. Over 70 million litres are sold in Thailand each year, achieving ...

(2007–2008) * IBSA Club Voleibol (2007–2008) *

(2008–2010) *

Federbrau Federbrau was a women's volleyball club, based in Bangkok, Thailand. The club played in the Thailand Volleyball Championship Serie A, which started in 2008. History The team won the 2009 Asian Club Championship, after defeating Tianjin Bridgesto ...

(2010–2011) *

(2010–2011) * Chang (2011–2012) *

(2011–2012) *

(2012–2014) *

(2013–2015) *

(2015) (loan) * Supreme Chonburi (2015–2021) *

(2016) (loan) * VTV BĐ LA (2017) (loan)

Awards

Individuals

* '' 2011 Asian Club Championship – "Most valuable player"'' * '' 2013 Asian Championship – "Most valuable player"'' * '' 2014–15 Thailand League – "Best scorer"'' * '' 2014–15 Thailand League – "Best outside spiker"'' * '' 2016 Asian Club Championship – "Best outside spiker"'' * '' 2016 VTV Cup Championship – "Best outside spiker"'' * '' 2016–17 Thailand League – "Best outside spiker"'' * '' 2018–19 Thailand League – "Best outside spiker"''

Clubs

* 2006 Thailand League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* 2010–11 Chinese League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-up, with

* 2012–13 Azerbaijan Super League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-up, with

* 2013–14 Thailand League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Nakhon Ratchasima * 2015–16 Thailand League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-up, with Supreme Chonburi * 2016–17 Thailand League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2017–18 Thailand League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2018–19 Thailand League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-up, with Supreme Chonburi * 2017 Thai–Denmark Super League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2018 Thai–Denmark Super League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2019 Thai–Denmark Super League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2009 Asian Club Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* 2010 Asian Club Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Federbrau * 2011 Asian Club Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Chang * 2012 Asian Club Championship – Bronze medal, with Chang * 2015 Asian Club Championship – Champion, with

* 2016 Asian Club Championship – Bronze medal, with Bangkok Glass * 2017 Asian Club Championship – Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2018 Asian Club Championship – Champion, with Supreme Chonburi * 2019 Asian Club Championship – Runner-up, with Supreme Chonburi

Royal decorations

* 2013 - Commander (Third Class) of The Most Exalted

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่เชิดชูยิ่งช้างเผือก; ) is an order of Thailand. It wa ...

* 2010 - Companion (Fourth Class) of The Most Admirable

Order of the Direkgunabhorn __NOTOC__ The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่สรรเสริญยิ่งดิเรกคุณาภรณ์; ) was establi ...

20 นักตบปลื้มรับเครื่องราชฯทำคุณประโยชน์ด้านกีฬา
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References

External links