Chinese Taipei beats Japan in opening match of 2nd Asian Games Women’s Beach Volleyball Tournament
Chinese Taipei earned a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Japan in the opening match of the preliminary round of the 2nd Asian Women’s Beach Volleyball Tournament. The match took place on Thursday, 9th December,
2010 and the three-set game lasted for 56 minutes.
Chinese Taipei and Japan were placed in Pool C along with three other teams: Thailand, Timor-Leste (TLS) and Tajikistan. The opening day of the tournament featured another Pool C match between Thailand and TLS, which Thailand won.
Chinese Taipei’s pairing comprised of h*i-Min Chang and Kou Nai-Han, while Japan brought in Anjiera Ishida and Mutsumi Ozaki in the tournament. Both Chinese Taipei and Japan have two duos each in the tournament. The other two teams
of Chinese Taipei and Japan have been included in Pool D.
First Set (19-21)
The match opened with an exchange of good serves from both sides. Ishida of Japan produced prolific serves and supplied plenty of power to her shots. The early phase of the game featured long rallies. The Japanese team found a
strong adversary in Chinese Taipei. Chang put up a valiant effort and denied several strong Japanese shots with her superb blocking over the net. Her teammate Kou was very quick in digging and diving on the sand, saving many valuable points. However, Chinese
Taipei dropped a few shots and lagged behind in the scores race. Japan’s duo was remarkably consistent in hitting the ball in the right spots, as their score rose steadily. Chinese Taipei tried hard to cover the deficit but Japan didn’t allow them to take
lead in the game, finally clawing its way to a first-set victory by a narrow lead of two points.
Second Set (21-12)
The loss of the first set didn’t hinder Chinese Taipei’s performance; in fact, they played with renewed spirit in the second set. Kou was on attack, while Chang was in unique receiving position to tackle the swift spikes of the
Japanese team. Chang stretched her arms wide open and handled cross-court shots with a lot of skill. In the meanwhile, Japan committed two service errors, which created a perfect opportunity for Chinese Taipei to lead the scoring chart. Afterwards, Chang tossed
the ball in the air with perfect timing and Kou converted it into a powerful spike. Revenge was the order of the second set. The Japanese duo hit from all angles and struggled to regain authority but Chinese Taipei killed off all their attacks, taking the
set away with a 9-point lead and levelling the score.
Third Set (15-12)
As the game entered the third and decisive set, the charged-up Chinese Taipei team hit the ball at measured lengths and played very sensible shots. Japan clearly endeavoured to do the same, knowing that this would be the set to
decide the outcome of the match. Nonetheless, Chinese Taipei was destined to see the face of victory, managing to steal points from the Japanese side and close the third set at 15-12, and winning the match.
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