Chinese Taipei attacks Korea in their straight-set win
Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, June 17, 2024 – Reigning champions Japan, China and Thailand got their campaigns in the 15th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship off to brilliant starts with convincing straight-set wins against their respective opponents, as Chinese Taipei pulled off upset 3-0 win against Korea and Australia sealed first victory on Monday.
The topflight championship, which started the pool round-robin preliminaries on Sunday at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium here and Ratchaburi Gymnasium in Ratchburi Province, with both competition sites being located apart with a distance of 42km, serves as the Asian qualification to see top four teams in Nakhon Pathom qualify for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship.
On Monday, three strong teams made their presence felt in their campaign openers of the eight-day championship. Japan, defending and nine times champions, handed Iran the first loss following 3-0 rout (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) of the rivals in Pool B, while formidable China, former four-time winners, crushed Kazakhstan in comfortable straight sets 25-9, 25-7, 25-16 in Pool C and hosts Thailand showed no mercy to Macao, China to overpower the visitors in a completely lopsided battle 25-7, 25-11, 25-13 in Pool A.
In Pool D, Australia, which succumbed to 1-3 defeat at the hands of Korea in their opening match, overcame a strong challenge from India to beat the determined rivals in hard-fought four-setter 25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, while Chinese Taipei, which defeated India in straight sets on Sunday, made it two on the trot after stunning Korea, bronze medallists at the previous edition at the same venue here two years ago, in straight sets 25-21, 25-12, 25-16.
At Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium on Monday, Australia were delighted as they opened up the second day with their first win against India in Pool D. Fielding a strong lineup led by opposite Lara Maric and outside hitter Hilary Hannagan, both of whom led the team with 11 points apiece in the previous match against Korea, the Aussies made a good start to take the first set 25-20, thanks to powerful attacks from Maric and the 185cm-tall Chelsea Cocks.
India clawed their way back to clinch the hard-fought second set 25-22, utilizing great attacks from middle blocker Mahak Singh and outside hitter Prathiba Sri Ganesan, but Australia upped their tempo and bounced back with attacks and effective blocks from Cocks and Anni Tang, who stands 196cm tall, to take the next two sets 25-18, 25-22 and match.
Chelsea Cocks scored a match-high 21 points from eight kills, team-leading 11 blocks and two aces for Australia, while Anni Tang and Lara Maric added 13 and 11 points respectively. Mahak Singh led India with 16 points including 13 attacks from 29 attempts.
Contesting the second match in Pool D at the same venue, Chinese Taipei, fresh from 3-0 victory against India in their previous match earlier, continued their unbeaten streak on Monday after putting Korea in the shade with another straight-set win.
Though strengthened by hard-hitting Park Yeoreum, whose massive 25 points lifted the team’s dramatic 3-1 win against Australia the previous day, Korea seemingly were not at their best on Monday. After going down 21-25 in the opening set, the Koreans regrouped to make amends for the first-set loss. However, the rhythm was still with the well-established Taiwanese girls, who had a strong dynamic and were successful in their scoring efforts.
With opposite Tseng Yu-Rou and outside hitter Chen Pin-Yu on fire, Chinese Taipei remained strong offensively to wrap up the one-sided second set 25-12. The third set was a similar script as Chinese Taipei did not struggle much to live up to their expectations as they powered their way to brush off Korea 25-16 for the eventual 3-0 victory.
Chinese Taipei had three players who reached double digits in this match. Chen Pin-Yu and Tseng Yu-Rou delivered 18 points apiece, while Chen Yi added another 10. No Korean player made double digits in scoring against their rivals. Park Seoyoon and Kim Jihoon scored 8 points apiece on the Korea’s loss.
As Korea dominated the blocking game, getting 7 stuffs to the opponents’ 3 aside from benefitting from more opponent errors (17 to 14), Chinese Taipei fared much better in kills (50 to 22) and aces (8 to 3).
With two straight wins, Chinese Taipei stayed atop Pool D with six points without dropping a set, followed by Australia and Korea. India suffered two matches in a row and are at a high risk of missing the cut for the quarterfinals.
In the third match, hosts Thailand, fresh from winning the 22nd “Princess Cup” Women’s U18 Southeast Asian Championship at the same venue here last Thursday, proved their superiority over Macao, China, methodically tearing the rivals’ defence apart with their exceptional attacks to take the entirely one-sided affair 25-7, 25-11, 25-13 in 59 minutes.
Outside hitter Atitaya Kaewnok chipped in with 12 points from six kills, two aces and team-leading four aces for Thailand, while outside hitter Zang Yun Fei led Macao, China with seven points including five from 28 attempts.
At Ratchaburi Gymnasium on Monday, China, which took an initial 2-0 lead in the final showdown against Japan at the previous 14th edition before going down three sets in a row to eventually suffer a disappointing 2-3 loss to the title-holders Japan, came back much stronger this time.
Against Kazakhstan in their opening clash, China fielded a tall squad, whose height average is 185cm against the rivals’ 176cm. China exploited powerful Zhai Yurui, Huang Yuexin and skipper Yang Shuming to gain crucial points in the first two sets which they won easily 25-9, 25-7.
Kazakhstan posed a serious threat in the third set, hoping for a comeback, but their attempt was in vain. Outside hitter Zhai Yurui, 182cm, proved an unstoppable force in the Chinese lineup as she attacked the smaller blockers with her exceptional spikes and joined hands with Yang Shuming for efficient blocks to lead the team to 25-16 win in the set and 3-0 match.
Zhai Yurui tallied 17 points from 10 attacks, four blocks and three aces for China, while Huang Yuexin and Yang Shuming kept good company to chip in 14 and 12 points respectively. No Kazakh player reached double digits in scoring against the Chinese, with Violetta Volga netting eight points, all from attacks.
The day’s last match between Iran, which downed Philippines in straight sets in their opening encounter, and title-holders Japan saw the former face a tough going as the latter produced solid defence with powerful attacks from Aina Mizokami and Angelina Lili Murase to foil the Iranians’ blocking attempts. Japan took the first set without much effort.
Conceding one set, Iran roared back with aggressive shots from Masoumeh Ghadamitabaghdehi and Ayda Valinezhad. However, the energetic Japanese still covered the court marvelously and counter-attacked aggressively to continue their leading way and finally closed out the set 25-19, widening it to 2-0.
The third set saw the Iranians play with their backs against the wall. They held their nerves to come up with some find spikes, but the Japanese remained strong defensively, bounced back hard to surge ahead and held firm to capture the comfortable set 25-17.
Outside hitter Minami Kessoku and Rion Chuganji delivered 12 points apiece for Japan, while Masoumeh Ghadamitabaghdehi led Iran with 7 points.
On Tuesday, the last day of the pool play, Chinese Taipei take on Australia in Pool D, with Korea playing India. Uzbekistan challenge hosts Thailand in Pool A, while Hong Kong, China go up against China in Pool C and Philippines face Japan in Pool B.
RESULTS AND POOL RANKING
POOL A
POOL B
POOL C
POOL D
MATCH SCHEDULE
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