China defeats Turkey by 3-1 in FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship - Volleyball
The Baskent Sports Hall in Ankara, Turkey, played host to a match of the FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship between the Turkish side and the Chinese squad on August 18. The competition went on for four sets as the 3600 spectators cheered their home team.
However, it was the Chinese squad that was celebrating a win at the end of the day with a 3-1 score line. Irrespective of the result of their recent match, both China and Turkey had already qualified for the semi-final round.
The first set of the match was taken by the Chinese after an initial struggle for dominance but the Turks rebounded in the second set to win it by a significant margin. The third set remained close all through, with no one sure where the tables would turn
until the very end. Winning the third set of the game got the momentum going for the Chinese who were able to stay in the lead in the fourth set and win the match at the following final set scores: 25-21, 19-25, 26-24 and 25-17.
The coach of the Chinese team, Mang Shen, expressed his views in the following way at the press conference that was conducted after the match: “We learned a lot in tonight’s match. The match will help us to improve our level for the semi final. We made
the decision at the end of the third set.”
On the other hand, the Turkish coach, Sahin Catma, shared his feelings in this manner: “Congratulations to China. It was like an early final match today. I believe in my team and I’m sure we’ll play China again in Sunday’s gold medal match.”
The opening set was thrilling all the way as neither China nor Turkey was letting the other take the advantage for extended periods. The match was still tied at 21-21 but China moved ahead with a 23-21 lead. Once they had the lead, China did not let go of
the advantage and bagged the first set at 25-21.
The Turks were going strong in the second set with a lead of 16-12 at the second technical time out. The Chinese kept trailing all the way as the Turks sealed the deal on the second set of the game at 25-19.
The third set was exciting with the crowd cheering as both the teams fought until the end. However, the Chinese were able to prevail by earning a win at 26-24. The fourth set saw the performance of the Turkish team slacken as the Chinese rolled ahead towards
a win at 25-17.
Despite the fact that the team lost the match, the Turkish player Damla Cakiroglu was able to lead by registering 18 points while the Chinese top scorer was Ting Zhu with 14 points.
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