Powerhouse Russia edges out Chinese Taipei clinch the Olympic spot – Volleyball news
Nothing less was expected from World champions Russia in the last match of 2012 FIVB Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament that took place on Sunday, May 27.
Russian musketeers clean-swept the underdog team from Chinese Taipei in only three sets, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-17).
Russian team rounded off the campaign with a perfect 7-0 record and earned a ticket to the 2012 London Olympic Games. Tokyo Metropolitan Gym hosted the match and more than 2,000 spectators watched the performance.
Ekaterina Gamova served as the top weapon for Russia. The outside/opposite hitter charted match-high 18 points, which included 16 spikes and one serve ace. She was followed by Maria Perepelkina, who contributed 12 points in Russian victory.
For Chinese team, Teng Yen Min and Chen Wan Ting emerged as the top-scorers with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Chinese Taipei was no match for strong Russian team-line that opened the match with commanding serves. The early onslaught of Gamova and Borisenko allowed the team to take two-point lead at the first technical timeout (8-6).
In-form Russian hitters showed no mercy and produced unstoppable cross court shots, which further stretched the gap of points. Chinese Taipei played defensively and had four-point deficit at the next technical break. Teng and Chen of C.T. tried to resist
but could not penetrate the power of killing spikes from 6.8 feet high Gamova. As a result, Russia claimed the opening set 25-14 and improved to 1-0 in the match.
Loss of opening stanza with big margin of points affected Chinese Taipei’s performance in the second set. On the other hand, Russian team enjoyed a great rhythm and tone. With convincing attacks and tricky bump-passes, Russia controlled the operations of
the game. C.T. squad progressed at low pace and suffered frequent setbacks.
Eventually, the second set also slipped from their hands at 17-25 and Russia strengthened its grip on the game with 2-0 lead.
Third set also came successful for Russia, while Chinese Taipei failed to make a comeback. Russia claimed the final set of the match with identical score of 25-17 and celebrated an amazing victory.
Winning Coach Sergey Ovchinnikov could not be more satisfied with his team’s performance. He appreciated the overall great performance of his team. He stated, “I thank all of our players. We won almost all of the matches 3-0. I can't thank the players enough.
We had time for preparation and communication between the players for this tournament.”
Norimasa Sakakuchi, the coach of Chinese Taipei, regretted the loss in the tournament but admired the effort of his players. He commented, “We have not had much experience against such tall teams like Russia. Our players showed courage with their attacks
and blocks. We will go home and review our performance and see how we can improve.”
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