China's prospects in final round of 2011 FIVB Men’s World Cup - Volleyball
China drew first blood on centre court in the final match of the third round against Asian rivals Iran with a 3-0 win over Iranian on Tuesday, November 29. They managed their first win and bagged three points for finishing the match in straight sets and
moved two flights up on the team-ranking chart.
The Head Coach of China, Jianan Zhou, expressed his emotions in the following manner: "I'm really happy about this first victory at the World Cup. Our team never gave up. We were finally rewarded for our hard work. We tried to motivate the players and give
them technical advice". Likewise, the Chinese skipper Jianjun Cui seemed pretty satisfied after winning the match and stated: “Today's game was really good. We changed the atmosphere and got the win, so I'm happy about that".
China started the campaign along with Italy, Russia, US, Brazil and Egypt in Site B of the 2011 FIVB World Cup. The Asian squad opened the tournament by taking on the USA. The match ended in US team’s favour, while China suffered the early loss. In the next
encounter, runner-up team of the last edition of the FIVB World Cup, Russia defeated China. It is understandable that U.S. and Russia have strong team-line, which easily overcame China. However, China should have won against Egypt in the third match but it
proved to be a herculean job for China as the Egyptians put in their utmost effort and finished off the match in straight sets, leaving China with an overall loss of 0-3 in the first round.
In the second round of the tournament, Italy came out firing against China in the first fixture. Italian team had the advantage of height and better physique, which perfectly worked out against China. They did not allow China to come up in the game and hammered
a 3-0 victory. Following the loss of four matches in a row, China made remarkable changes in the team-line and game plan. They regrouped players and worked on their weak areas. China was challenged by defending champion Brazil in the final match of second
round. A great volleyball battle was fought between two teams. Match spanned over fight sets and experienced many ups and downs. Eventually, Brazil took away the game with final score of 3-2.
Jianan Zhou’s team entered third round of the World Cup with new determination. After playing a close match with Brazil, the confidence level of Chinese players was better. They lost the first two matches of third round to Poland and host Japan but did exceptionally
well in the third match against Iran. China hit the spot after seven straight defeats in the tournament.
Now that China is not the team without a victory, they do have something to build their confidence on. The hot action of volleyball will return to the courts when the final round of the tournament will be opened on December 2. China has three matches against
Cuba, Serbia, and Argentina, respectively. Cuba will be a tough rival for China but the Chinese team has the ability to overcome Serbia and Argentina.
They only need to carry the same momentum in third set and victory will be theirs.
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