FIVB Championship recap: China avoids elimination, Poland tops Turkey
The second round of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Women's Volleyball World Championship has ended. Of the 16 teams that advanced beyond the first round, four have now been eliminated.
The remaining 12 advanced to the semi-finals, and will compete in three groups for various final positions.
Peru vs China Pool E
China managed to avoid elimination with a 3-0 (17-25 22-25 21-25) victory over Peru. China improved to 3-4 and finished in sixth place, they’ll advance to the semi-finals and compete for a position in
the 9-12 bracket. Peru’s loss saw them finish the second round with a 0-7 record, and they will not be advancing to the semi-finals.
Wang Yimei and Ma Yunwen each had 15 points for China while Peru’s captain, Leyla Chihuan led her team with 13 points.
Peru led the first set early at 5-3, but couldn’t maintain it against the world’s third ranked team. China tied the set at 5-5, and went on to earn a 14-11 lead. From there they scored nine of the next
11 points, and eventually won the set 25-17.
In the second and third set Peru stayed close, but couldn’t earn a victory as the Chinese won the match in straight sets.
“We won 3-0, but we are not so pleased with our play, because we made a lot of mistakes,” said Zhou Suhong. “We have to have more confidence that we can win. When we have the lead and the other team started
to catch up with us, we didn’t feel very calm and confident.”
Poland vs Turkey Pool E
Poland finished in fifth place with a 3-4 record after a 3-1 (25-23 24-26 27-25 25-22) victory against Turkey, who fell to 3-4, but finished in fourth place. Poland will compete for one of the 9-12 positions
in the semi-finals, and Turkey will advance to the 5-8 semi-final bracket.
Leading Turkey in scoring was Neslihan Darnel with 25 points. Anna Werblinska led Poland with 22.
The teams exchanged the lead often throughout the match. Poland led for most of the fourth and final set, but Turkey was able to keep it close, trailing 22-21 late. A miss by Darnel set up match point
for Poland, and Werblinska earned the final point with a spike, her second set point of the match.
“It's very rare that both sides are satisfied with the match. In Turkey's case, they are happy to be playing in the 5-8 final round,” said Poland’s coach, Jerzy Matlak. “We had some momentum in the match
but at one point I thought we might be going home tomorrow.”
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