China and Japan clinch success on Day-1 of AVC Continental Cup: Volleyball
The men’s Olympic qualification tournament for Asian countries took centre stage on Wednesday, November 30, as eight teams from China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Chinese Taipei gathered in the city of Nanning, China. On the first day of the tournament, hosts
China and Japan topped the ranking in their respective groups. Chinese duos took full advantage of the familiar beach and over took the visiting pairs. Likewise, the Japanese players proved their mettle and finished the day with three victories and one loss.
China played against Chinese Taipei, while the Japanese contested their skills with teams from Hong Kong.
China’s top-seeded pairing of Xu Linyin and Wu Penggen, ranked 8th in the world, opened the day on a strong note. In the first men’s encounter, China overpowered Hsu Chen-Wei and Tseng Chun-Cheng of Chinese Taipei in straight sets. They posted
identical score of 21-17 in both sets and claimed match victory.
China vs. Chinese Taipei, 3-1
The other home team, which comprised of Zhou Shun and Li Jian, then added another win to China’s record. They went against Chinese Taipei’s Juan Shang-Hsuan/ Lee Yao-Tsung and sent 21-14, 21-12 on board. The C.T. pair failed to put up with the heavy strike
of volleys and suffered the loss of match. Therefore, China bagged two wins in the morning session of the tournament on Day-1.
The charged-up Chinese duos returned to action in the afternoon and perfectly carried their momentum. Pairing of Xu/Wu displayed another great show of volleyball and defeated Juan and Lee, 2-0 (21-7, 21-9), while Zhou/Li downed Hsu/Tseng of C.T., 2-1 (21-12,
16-21, 15-12).
Japan vs. Hong Kong, 4-0
In the match between Japan and Hong Kong, tandem of Shinpei Aoki and Katsuhiro Shiratori of Japan 1 dominated Kwok Wing Ho and Wong Pui Lam of Hong Kong 2. The latter duo was no match for strong Japanese team and lost the match in consecutive sets, 21-8,
21-14. Nonetheless, Kentaro Asahi and Keisuke Imai of Japan 2 could not perform up to the mark and lost to Hong Kong. Wong Chun Wai and Wong Kwun Pong of Hong Kong 1 did a great job in edging out Japan. The match spanned over three sets, while Hong Kong team
earned the status of winning team by posting 2-1 (21-15, 14-21, 15-9).
As the play resumed in the after-noon, Japan made a clean sweep Hong Kong in both matches. Katsuhiro Shiratori and Shinpei Aoki of Japan avenged their teammates by crushing Wong Chun Wai and Wong Kwun Pong 21-9, 21-10. And Kentaro Asahi and Keisuke Imai
also adjusted their condition quickly, prevailing 21-14, 21-19 over Kwok Wing Ho and Wong Pui Lam, thus helping Japan a 3-1 win over Hong Kong.
At the end of Day-1, China and Japan grabbed success and earned tickets for the second round of the tournament.
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