Jiangmen, China, July 7, 2024 – Intense duels set the stage for the action-packed semifinals of the 22nd Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium on Monday, with indomitable China challenging Korea and Thailand facing off against reigning champions Japan.
The topflight championship serves as the Asian qualification tournament, from which top four teams will qualify for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship. However, China have earlier qualified automatically as current world champions.
China
Korea
China had already beaten Thailand 3-0 and Japan pulled off 3-1 win against Korea in their round of 8 matches and they all had a rest day on Sunday. The semifinal encounters resume on Monday, with Thailand and Japan to meet in the first clash at 16.30pm local time and hosts China and Korea at 19.00pm.
Japan
Thailand
However, two matches will be held earlier on Monday in the classification round for 5th-8th places. India are set to take on Kazakhstan in the match to decide the 7th position of the championship, while Vietnam will clash with Chinese Taipei in the much-anticipated 5th-6th encounter.
On Sunday, the quartet had contested the 5th-8th place playoff matches which saw Chinese Taipei down Kazakhstan in intense straight sets and Vietnam demolish India in a lopsided battle.
Chinese Taipei
Resilient Chinese Taipei put it past Kazakhstan in hard-fought three-set thriller 25-22, 25-22, 25-23. The exceptional win has given Chinese Taipei a chance to go up against Vietnam in the Monday’s playoff encounter to determine the fifth and sixth places in this prestigious championship.
Chinese Taipei, powered by hard-attacking Hsu Fang-Min and the 180cm-tall Chang Yi-Chi, came up at full strength to get this crucial match against Kazakstan off to a flying start. The Kazakh side were also strong with the hefty Ayaulym Turdykhanova and outside hitter and skipper Sofiya Gorbacheva leading the team’s offense.
Kazakhstan
After the match, opposite Chang Yi-Chi and outside hitter Hsu Fang-Min scored 14 points apiece for Chinese Taipei, while Ayaulym Turdykhanova led Kazakhstan with 15 points including 12 attacks from 34 attempts.
Vietnam
Vietnam also proved their superiority over India to annihilate the lower-ranked opponents in an easy affair 25-15, 25-12, 25-18.
Middle blocker Le Nhu Anh chipped in 11 points from 10 attacks and one ace for Vietnam, while outside hitter Nguyen Lan Vy and opposite Pham Quynh Huong added another 8 and 6 points respectively. Ananthi Arasu scored 13 points including 12 attacks from 25 attempts on the India’s loss.
Iran
In the 9th-12 playoff matches earlier on Sunday, Iran pulled off dramatic 3-1 (25-15, 25-27, 25-13, 25-16) victory against New Zealand in the 9th-10th playoff clash to settle for the ninth place.
New Zealand
Iran finished a well-earned sixth place at the previous edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan two years ago, but this time, they returned with the ninth position.
“I think we had a good start in this match against New Zealand, but then we lost our focus in the second set. They could gain composure back and had a very good start in the third set. In the fourth set, I think the players played very well, not as expected, but the problem was that we started from a very difficult group and we were very disappointed because we thought that we could be in the round of last 8. All in all, it’s a good experience for young players and I hope they can perform better in the near future,” Iran head coach Padideh Boloorizadeh remarked.
Padideh Boloorizadeh
Outside hitter Shaghayegh Hassankhani delivered 15 points from 12 kills and 3 aces for Iran, while opposite Sepinood Dastbarjan and middle blocker Paria Hajatmand contributed 11 points apiece. Opposite Charlie Vail scored 13 points including 6 attacks from 14 attempts on the New Zealand’s loss.
Australia
Australia, which did not take part in the previous edition, cruised past Hong Kong, China in four sets 25-11, 25-23, 16-25, 25-22 to finish 11th place.
Hong Kong, China
However, the 11th-place finish they have taken in the nine-day championship was a far cry from the country’s best-performance of 4th place achieved at the 1992 edition in Malaysia. Their latest appearance in this championship was in 2018 in Vietnam, where they managed to finish 10th position.
Outside hitter Cameron Zajer and fellow outside hitter Ella Schabort scored 18 points apiece for Australia, while Caitlin Whincup contributed another 13 points. Opposite Wilson Halimah Zampaligre led Hong Kong, China with 11 points including 10 kills from 32 attempts.
POOL RANKING AND RESULTS
POOL RANK 5-8
POOL RANK 9-12
MATCH SCHEDULE
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