Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, April 29, 2023 – Altay tore the Hip Hing’s defence apart with their mighty attacks to mercilessly crush the much smaller-built opponents from Hong Kong, China in a completely one-sided battle 25-14, 25-8, 25-12 in their last preliminary Pool B match in the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium on Saturday.
Irina Malkova contributed 13 points including 7 attacks and team-leading 3 blocks for Altay VC, with Sana Anarkulova and Kristina Anikonova adding 12 and 11 points respectively. No player from Hip Hing VC scored double digits, with Chim Wing Lam scoring 6 points on the team’s losing effort.
Following the convincing win, Altay VC improved their win/loss record in the pool round-robin preliminaries to 3-1 in Pool B, bagging the combined 8 points to temporarily surge ahead Thailand’s Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force to the second place overall in the Pool.
If the Thai side fail to make their mark and go down to China’s Liaoning Donghua in the later match on Saturday, the Kazakh outfits will then make it to the semifinals as the second place in Pool B instead. However, if Diamond Food manage to beat the Chinese side, Altay will miss the cut for the semifinals.
Against the winless Hip Hing VC from Hong Kong, China on Saturday, Altay remained strong offensively with the likes of hard-hitting Sana Anarkulova, Svetlana Parukova and Russian Irina Malkova, who stands 192cm tall, the tallest player in the team.
Spearheaded by powerful Chim Wing Lam, Hip Hing fought well in the first set to mount strong challenge against the much-taller opponents. Trailing narrowly 6-7, Hip Hing attacked well and produced effective drop shots to reduce the margin 11-12. However, after that the Kazakhs, whose height average is 181cm against the young rivals’ 171cm, tightened their defence and attacked from all corners to finally take the comfortable first set 25-14.
The second set turned a completely one-sided affair when Altay played more confidently and consistently to take an early lead with a 13-point clear at 16-3 and never looked back from then on to clinch the easy set 25-8.
The third set turned out to be a similar script as the previous one when Altay unleashed a series of powerful attacks and solid blocks to lead by wide margin 11-0. Hip Hing successfully broke the jinx when Chim Wing Lam overcame the taller blockers with her powerful attack. However, the Kazakh side went on their attacks to extend the lead to 16-2 and started to rest their best players and instead, fielding substitutions including Saniya Balagazinova and Irina Kenzhebayeva.
Hip Hing grabbed the opportunity to play more aggressively. Their attempts bore fruits as the Hong Kong, Chinese side reduced the gap to 10-20. Still, their fightback was short-lived moments later when Altay stormed on to win the set 25-12, thanks to a sharp spike from Tatyana Nikitina.
After the match, outside hitter and captain Sana Anarkulova of Altay VC expressed her delight for the team’s win. “We are very happy with the today’s 3-0 win. It’s what we badly need. We now have to wait for the result of the next match between Liaoning Donghua and Diamond Food. Today, Hip Hing from Hong Kong, China started very well and we tried to stop them. Fortunately, after that, it became very easy for us.”
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