China goes 3-0 in opening match against North Korea in Pool C – Asian Senior Women’s Championship
The 2011 Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship started off in Chinese Taipei on Thursday, September 15. A total of 14 teams joined the action in the preliminary round of the tournament and played their opening matches. China and North Korea crossed
paths in Pool C. The Chinese posted a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, and 25-15) and earned three points to their total by winning the match.
h*i Ruoqi was the top scorer in the match as she proved her endeavours in both attack and defence. She notched 19 points for China and made it quite difficult for North Korea to tackle her powerful shots. Zhang Lei contributed 14 points, while Ma Yunwen
was credited with 13 points. On the other hand, Jong Jin Sim of North Korea put in the effort for her team and clipped 11 points. Kim Kyong Suk added 10 points, whereas the rest of the players were unable to go into double digits.
China had the upper hand on the Koreans early in the match, leading by as much as 8-3 in the opening set. The series of hits by Chinese striker, Ruqui, helped her team to increase the advantage. She made good use of her hands while hitting the ball into
the gaps. The Korean side began its rally after the first technical timeout and attacked through Jin Sim. However, China offered strong resistance to the Koreans and did not allow them to increase their score. China’s Ma Yunwen and Zhang Lei dismissed many
of their opponents’ attack attempts and saved crucial points. The first set lasted for 24 minutes and eventually China grabbed success at 25-19.
China used the same attack and defence combination in the second set, which made their dominance more apparent. In the meanwhile, the North Koreans put up a spirited effort and tried to make a comeback. They formed different combinations and followed different
strategies in order to snatch points from China. Nevertheless, the good reception from China proved to be a hurdle for Korea and the second set also slipped from their hands at 15-25.
After success in two consecutive sets, the rhythm and tone was perfectly set for China to put an end to the tussle. They played fast and quickly covered the length of the third set. The height of the Chinese players benefitted them and China won the match
after taking the third set by 25-15.
The Head Coach of the Chinese team, Mr. Yu Juemin, expressed his delight about his team’s victory. He stated his views in the following manner: “Overall, our team did a good job today; their performance reached the standard.” He said China has one goal and
that is to try its best for a ticket to the World Cup, which is supposed to be held in Japan in November.
Furthermore, h*i Ruoqi of China said: “P.R Korea's defense was more outstanding than ours, and that is what we can learn from them.”
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