China enters final of 16th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship
A semi-final of the 16th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship took place on Septemebr 22nd in Taipei, Chinese Taipei. The two teams that were in the running for a place in the gold medal match were China and Korea. The clash between the
two sides lasted for four sets at the end of which China had secured itself a ticket into the final of the tournament with a 3-1 win.
The first set of the match was completely dominated by the Chinese as the Koreans were struggling to find their form. The loss of the first set triggered the Koreans into action and they played well in the second set but by the end of it the Chinese sped
on towards another win. The third set saw competitive play from both sides and Korea was able to take the game to a fourth frame, in which China smothered the Koreans and won the match at the following final set scores: 25-14, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-16.
The top scorer of the Chinese team, h*i Ruoqi, made the following comments at the press conference after her team had won the match: “We were very glad to be able to play such a good game, and we could win because we prepared very well. Korea is a good
team and Kim Yeon Koung gave us a lot of pressure during the match.”
On the other hand, the head coach of Korea, Kim Hyun Sil, expressed himself in the following manner: “Congratulations to China as they make it to the finals. We were not successful in overcoming their superior height and power.”
The Korean captain Lee Hyo Hee shared her views in this way: “Our reception was not good, and that's why we lost the game.”
The first set of the game saw the Chinese take the lead early on and keep the advantage with them for the rest of the game. Korea could not do much except trail behind as China sailed smoothly towards a win at 25-14.
The Chinese were able to take the lead first in the second set too and they were able to keep in control until the final stages of the game. China was leading comfortably at 20-14 but Korea put on an impressive display of volleyball skill that brought them
close. However, China sealed the deal at 25-20.
The Koreans came out as a rejuvenated team in the third set and made a quick job of the win at 25-21 but the Chinese prevailed in asserting themselves in the fourth set and took the game at 25-16.
Despite the fact that they lost the match, it was Korean player Kim Yeon Koung who scored the highest number of points in the match by tallying 21. While on the Chinese side, the most effective player was h*i Ruoqi with a total of 20 points.
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