Volleyball Update: North Korea loses the semi-final combat to hosts China
The wonderful Chinese squad outplayed North Korea in the semi-final of 2010 Asian Games Women’s Volleyball Championship on Thursday, 25th November, 2010. They clean swept Korean team by sending a score of 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, and 25-15). Guangwai
Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China hosted the 35th match on its ground and attracted around 1’580 fans to witness the performance. The incredible women’s volleyball action kept the spectators entertained at their seats for about 1hour and 9 minutes.
Match overview
The Chinese team descended the court with big plans. The home team had worked out great success in the Women’s Volleyball Tournament and they launched their authority in all previous matches. In the semi-final match, they had the task to teach a lesson to
the un-known rivals North Korea. China opened the match with powerful serves and poked the ball in Korean half from different angles. Zhou Suhong of China received huge applause from audience for her deadly unstoppable spikes. China totally dominated and didn’t
allow Korea’s team to stand in front of their killing spikes and aces. Xue Ming and Ma Yunwen of China formed a great chemistry to influence the opposite side. Korea used Jong Jin Sim to attack China’s defence line but it proved to be unsuccessful attempt.
China’s tough attacking and effective blocking enabled them to crop out first-set victory at 25-11.
Korea’s team hit back strongly in the following set. They made a great comeback and promptly came out of blues. However, China was in shape to deal with the potential danger. They grasped the game plan of Korea and followed a different approach after first
technical timeout (FTT). The combination of good spiking and solid blacking helped them regain better status in the game. China once again took a lead of 11-9 and the resistance from Korean team vanished. Afterwards, the game picked up pace and China’s strikers
showed aggressive attacks. Korea remained hand-in-hand with China and continued adding points to their score tally. They tried their best but China proved far too tough to handle. China’s team closed the second set with 5-point lead and dragged Korea under
the clouds of uncertainty.
The start of third set was not very good for China as the ball deflected from the hands of their libero. Korea got the perfect opportunity to take advantage of China’s mistakes. They helped consecutive points and rolled off wonderful cut shot in China’s
half. Anyhow, the excitement was short lived for Korean fans as China clawed its way back to the top. Zhou Suhong directed the ball in right spots and helped in raising the score. As the game progressed in third set, China got better and stronger. They added
quick points and forced Korea to stay behind the attack line. Moreover, China led the third set and stretched the gap of points. Korea had no chance to penetrate speedy spikes of Chinese hitters and gave way to China’s victory. China declared straight sets’
victory over Korean and moved to the final showdown on Saturday.
Post match
Chinese head coach, Yu Juemin praised the nice work of Korean team and also appreciated the individual effort of his own player. He said, “DPR Korea played better than we expected. Today we put up our best performance. Ma Yunwen’s fast attack, Zhou Suhong’s
running attack was good on the whole.”
Jong Jin Sim of Korea topped the score chart by registering 17 points for her team. She earned 16 points in attack attempts. Ming Xue of China captured the second-spot in top-scorers’ category. She incorporated 13 points via 19 attack attempts and 23 blocks.
She also produced 10 serves, while rest of the players in both teams scored single-digit points.
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