Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, July 6, 2022 – One of the most awaited match-ups in the 21st Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship concluded with China snatching a straight-sets win, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) against titleholders Japan.
China retained a three-win streak in Pool B of the Preliminary Round after Wednesday’s victory at NU Sports Centre.
Captain Wang Yifan scored 17 points (15 attacks, 2 blocks), leading and playing consistently throughout the match.
Outside hitter Anna Uemura tallied 14 points (13 attacks, 1 block) in Japan’s first loss.
China played nearly flawlessly in the first set, minimizing their error intake to just one. They served well and set up their offence in such calculated manner. They also posted good defence upfront and in the backcourt.
Japan tried to orchestrate their fast-paced offence, showing much variety in attack. Uemura was being set up from the wing and the backline. The Japanese, with their usual fast tempo, aimed to craft more plays but also fell to miscues with their high-risk attacks.
The Chinese side continued to perform well from the service line, and sustained good counter-attacks. Wang Yifan and Zhuang Yushan seemed unstoppable from the left side.
The Japanese team needed to devise ways to stop their opponents from operating at the left flank. They needed to instill tighter net defence, yet be quickly ready on the second line. They also tried to utilize more of Rin Honda’s middle attack, which succeeded on several tries.
However, China were always poised and ready to line up their blocks quickly and tightly. They played with more composure in both offence and defence, and made sound decisions in moments that mattered most.
Setter Yin Xiaolan ran the Chinese offence rather well, keeping the team in cohesive play even in difficult, decisive situations against tough opponents. She credits this to their training and their system in the team.
“We practice a lot in communicating and coordinating between the setter and the hitters. This is the most important thing that we learn in training that helped us in today’s win,” said Yin Xiaolan.
China will face Chinese Taipei on Thursday, July 7 at 15:00, while Japan will meet Uzbekistan during the 12:30 match at NU Sports Centre. All times local.
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