The FIVB Grand Prix 2010: China vs. Netherlands
Netherland’s women volleyball team is ranked amongst the top five teams in the world. With the passage of time, the team developed fierce rivalry with China in the fifteenth edition of the FIVB Grand Prix. Historically, the two teams have been highly competitive in all their past matches. They clashed in the final match of Grand Prix Women’s Championship in 2007 at Beilun Gymnasium, Ningbo, China. The final match was full of excitement as the match took swift turns and twists before triumph graced Netherlands. China was defeated on its home-court in the presence of thousands of local fans.
Since then, China and Netherlands have developed the tussle. Last year, Netherlands’ team finished at 4th place while pushing China to fifth spot in the game. However, 2010 had great expectations as China and Netherlands had both been included in Group C.
And excitement it was. Both teams opened the first round with early wins over their competitors. Netherlands played their first match against Thailand and smacked a three straight set victory against them. On the second day, Puerto Rico appeared in the court to face Netherlands. The strong athletic spikers from the Netherlands dismissed Puerto Rico in a similar three set victory. The Netherlands carried joy on their faces until they faced China in the third match on Sunday.
On the other hand, China repeated the same act and devastated the teams from Puerto Rico and Thailand in the first two matches. China claimed a 3-0 victory over these two teams and moved ahead to take on their first-line rivals Netherlands on the weekend.
The masses were waiting for the great volleyball combat between China and Netherlands. Both teams had the confidence of winning their first two matches in the first round. The hit-and-run plan was finalized. Netherlands opened the game with flaring spikes that hit the court with killing speed. They played sensibly and were able to influence the Chinese players with their excellent handling of the ball. Netherlands took the lead and maintain the difference of points. China couldn’t develop the chemistry and timing amongst their players and lost the first set.
Nonetheless, the newly appointed Chinese Coach came up with a different strategy in the second set. He focused on the mid-court defence and substituted some of the players. The scenario changed in the second set when China started dominating the Netherlands’ side. The proper hitting, blocking, passing, and digging of Chinese players provided them an edge to take the lead in the second set. The Netherlands’ could only produce power-lacking shots which couldn’t turn their luck. The second set ended in China’s favour.
Afterwards, Netherlands failed to regain control of the game. The deceptive shots by the Chinese hitters totally crashed Netherlands defence line. China won the third set with a fair margin of 10 points and the two-set lead really uplifted them. The Netherland tried to fight back but didn’t succeed to overcome the pressure from the Chinese. Most of their serves didn’t properly land in the court and their shots were blocked Chinas defensive wing before they could cross the net. China eventually claimed a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-15, and 25-21) victory over the Netherlands.
Netherlands’ coach Avital Selinger regretted the defeat and quoted the reason for their downfall. “China is a very strong team, and we must improve our performance to stand a chance of beating them”. He further expressed the hope to improve his team’s performance. Selinger said, “This is our second time in Macau, and our team will do our best to improve every day, and our first goal is to reach the Ningbo Finals."
Today, China is scheduled to take on the Netherlands at 13:00 (GMT).
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