Tehran, Iran, August 22, 2022 – China put it past determined Chinese Taipei 3-2 (25-16, 15-25, 18-25, 25-20, 17-15) to end their 14th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship campaign with well-earned 5th position at the Federation Hall on Monday.
China, which brushed off Chinese Taipei in straight sets in Pool A earlier, played a rematch with the same rivals in the 5th-6th playoff on Monday, aiming to repeat the similar feat.
Against the formidable Chinese Taipei, China got off to a brilliant start to win the comfortable first set 25-16. However, Lin Ting-Wei and Chen Peng-Yi brought Chinese Taipei back on track, utilizing their exceptional spikes and blocks to help their team take the lead with five-point clear at 17-12 before winning the easy second set 25-15.
The third set was more thrilling when both sides exchanged attacks, which saw the leads move back and forth for a while. Levelling 12-12, Chinese Taipei kept their rhythm and remained solid defensively. China tried to fight back hard, but still found the rivals a tough nut to crack and surrendered to the strong rivals 18-25.
The Chinese were not willing to give up easily as they went back to the competition court with better strategy. With head coach Gong Zaifeng giving his players a tip to play the old foes, China found their touch and put up a good fight to claim a hard-fought 25-20 win in the fourth set.
In the decider, Li Duo and captain Zeng Yangije had some good shots and the team’s efficient blocks also worked out pretty well. With the rivals hot on their heels to chase them seriously, China had enough to hold them off effectively to capture the hotly-contested set 17-15, match and the 5th place.
This is another successful step better than the sixth place they had achieved at the previous episode in 2018, leaving Chinese Taipei to end in sixth position.
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