China win junior volleyball tournament
[VOLLEYBALL] The Chinese team pulled off a dramatic 3-1 win over Japan in the final of the Asian Women's Junior Under-19 Volleyball Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday.
It was the seventh title China have won since their debut in 1992. The Chinese girls started aggressively and won the first set 25-20 before Japan stormed back to win a hard-fought second set 26-24. With a noisy crowd of more than 3,500 packing the venue at The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima's MCC Hall to watch the final, the Japanese failed to make their mark in the third set and went down 25-18. The Japanese girls gave their all in the fourth set, but the Chinese defence was impenetrable. China won the fourth set 25-17 and the Championship. In the third-place play-off, the Thailand were without injured attacker Sirintra See and lost to Taiwan in four sets. South Korea finished fifth after outclassing Vietnam in straight sets. In the seventh place play-off, Australia came from behind to beat arch-rivals New Zealand 3-2. Japan's Miho Watanabe won the award for the best setter, while the best server was China's Fan Lin Lin. China's Yan Ni was named the best blocker, Taiwan's Wu Shu Fen the best scorer, China's Chen Yao the best attacker and China's Wang Qian the best libero player. China's Yan Ni won the most valuable player award.
Preechachan Wiriyanupappong The Nation Nakhon Ratchasima
|
