Korea’s Jeon Dabin attacks New Zealand
Jiangmen, China, July 2, 2024 – Formidable Japan and Korea became the first two teams to progress to the round of last 8 following their two consecutive wins in their pools at the 22nd Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium here on Tuesday.
Japan celebrate their win against Hong Kong, China
As teams were split into four pools of three teams apiece in the pool round-robin preliminaries, those with two wins will top their pools and are guaranteed to secure their spots in the round of last 8, where top two teams from each pool will next contest playoff matches in Pool E (teams from Pools A and C) and Pool F (teams from Pools B and D) and only top two teams from each pool (Pools E and F) will advance to the semifinals, while the four lower-ranked sides will battle it out in classification round for 5th-8th places.
Korea celebrate their point win against New Zealand
On Tuesday, the second day of the topflight championship, which serves as the Asian qualification for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship, Japan brushed off Hong Kong, China in comfortable straight sets 25-14, 25-15, 25-13.
The defending champions had already registered their first win against India in their Monday’s opener and with two wins in a row, the Japanese completed their pool play to top Pool B for sure.
The small-built, but powerful Anna Uemura, who stands 168cm tall, chipped in 14 points from 13 kills and one ace for Japan, while Miku Akimoto and Riri Kasai kept good company to contribute 12 and 10 points respectively. Outside hitter Tang Sum Yeun scored 14 points, all in attack, on the Hong Kong, China’s loss.
In Pool D, Korea, fresh from 3-0 demolition of Chinese Taipei in their first match on Monday, managed another 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-7) shutout of New Zealand. Following two successive wins, Korea, which finished a well-earned fourth place at the previous edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, secured their place as Pool D winners in the round of last 8.
In their match against Kiwis on Tuesday, middle blocker Lee Jiyun chipped in 12 points from 9 kills, 2 blocks and one ace for Korea, while Lee Jua and Jeon Dabin contributed 9 and 7 points respectively. Middle blocker and skipper Marnie Ursem scored 6 points on the New Zealand’s loss.
Meanwhile, Vietnam succumbed to straight-set loss to Southeastern counterparts Thailand on Monday which allowed them a decisive opportunity to take on Iran in a must-win situation. Fortunately, the Vietnamese keep their hopes of advancing to round of last 8 teams alive after their 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-19) rout of Iran on Tuesday.
Outside hitter Dang Thi Hong delivered 14 points from 13 kills and one ace for Vietnam, while Nguyen Lan Vy and Pham Thuy Linh added 12 and 11 points respectively. Outside hitter Shaghayegh Hassankhani led Iran with 7 points, all in attack.
The Vietnam’s dominance was visible in the match stats as the winners dominated in kills (42 to 26), blocks (7 to 3) and aces (5 to 2), but Iran benefitted from more opponent errors (22 to 21).
In the last match of the day, mighty China showed no mercy to Kazakhstan to demolish the smaller-built opponents in a completely one-sided affair 25-8, 25-8, 25-11 in Pool A to claim their first win in the nine-day championship.
China, current world champions and silver medallists at the previous edition, fielded tall and towering players whose height average is 186cm against Kazakhstan’s 177cm, while Kazakhstan, which produced comeback 3-2 win against Australia the previous day, were led by hard-hitting Sofiya Gorbacheva.
Outside hitter Li Chenxuan delivered 12 points from 9 kills, 2 blocks and one ace for China, while fellow outside hitter Guo Xiangling and opposite Wang Yindi kept good company to contribute 11 and 10 points respectively. Outside hitter and skipper Sofiya Gorbacheva led Kazakhstan with 4 points, all in attack.
On Wednesday, the last day of pool play, Chinese Taipei will take on New Zealand, both of them suffered their first loss at the hands of Korea, to determine the second team in Pool D to qualify for the round of last 8, while Iran, going down to Vietnam, will go up against Thailand with their backs against the wall in the must-win Pool C match. Thailand, bronze medalists at the previous edition, had already beaten Vietnam in straight sets on Monday.
The third match sees India fight it out with Hong Kong, China to determine the second team in Pool B to join Japan in the round of last 8. Both teams had already lost in straight sets to Japan in the pool play.
Australia, which went down 2-3 to Kazakhstan in their previous match, will also face a must-win situation in their tough match against China. Another loss on Wednesday will result in Australia’s relegation to classification round for 9th-12th places.
Twelve teams are strutting their stuff in the 22nd Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship, which will qualify top four teams for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship. China automatically qualified as current world champions.
POOL RANKING AND RESULTS
POOL A
POOL B
POOL C
POOL D
MATCH SCHEDULE
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