Hangzhou, China, October 5, 2023 – Anticipation in the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Women’s Volleyball Competition has reached a fever pitch when four top contenders strut their stuff in do-or-die semifinals on Friday, with China and Thailand setting up 2018 Asian Games final rematch and Japan confronting Vietnam at Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium.
Contesting their last Top 8 encounters on Thursday, China overpowered Vietnam 3-0 and Korea demolished DPR Korea 3-1 in Pool E, while Japan stunned Thailand 3-0 and Chinese Taipei produced comeback 3-1 win against Kazakhstan in Pool F.
At the packed Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium on Thursday, world No.6 China, defending champions, Rio de Janeiro Olympic gold medallists and silver medallists at this year’s VNL, proved too strong for Vietnam to pull off lopsided 25-13, 25-13, 25-11 triumph over the AVC Challenge Cup winners.
China, backed by boisterous home fans packing the 8,033-seater gymnasium, took total control in the first set, producing impeccable defence and exceptional attacks from left-hander Li Yingying, tall and towering Yuan Xinyue, 202cm, and hard-hitting Wang Yunlu for the easy 25-13 win.
China started their second set on a high note to take an initial lead with a seven-point clear at 10-3. Vietnam head coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet decided to rest their best players and field substitutions including opposite Doan Thai Xuan, outside hitter Vi Thi Nhu Quynh, setter Vo Thi Kim Thoa and middle blocker Ly Thi Luyen.
Still, they found the Chinese too hot to handle and succumbed to another 25-13 defeat. The third set turned out to be one-way traffic as Chinese stormed on their relentless attacks to lead by wide margin 23-10, allowing the visitors only one more point to comfortably wrap up the set 25-11 and match.
China had four players who reached double digits, with middle blocker Yuan Xinyue leading the way with 17 points from 8 kills, 7 stuffs and 2 aces. Middle blocker Wang Yuanyuan, outside hitter Wang Yunlu and outside hitter Li Yingying added 12 points apiece for the China’s crucial win. Outside hitter Vi Thi Nhu Quynh led Vietnam with 7 points.
The Chinese dominated the blocking game, getting 16 stuffs to Vietnam’s 2. The host side also did a very good job of leading their opponents in kills (41 to 26) and aces (5 to 1), besides benefitting from more opponent errors (13 to 8).
Following the great win, China maintained their remarkable unbeaten run in Hangzhou and topped Pool E, while Vietnam finished second in the pool.
Despite going down in humiliating straight sets to the fired-up Chinese in this tough match, the Vietnamese made much of impact this year as they finished unprecedented Top 4 in the recent Asian Senior Women’s Championship apart from reaching semifinals for the first time in Asian Games history in Hangzhou. Earlier this year, Vietnam also reigned supreme in the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Championship under the Sport Center 1’s banner.
At the same venue earlier, world No.40 Korea, which had captured gold medal at the 1994 Hiroshima and 2014 Incheon Asian Games to their name, bounced back from the opening-set disappointment to seal dramatic 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-9, 25-20) win against DPR Korea.
Outside hitter Kang Sohwi played a big part of the Korea’s victory, emerging as the match’s top scorer with 24 points from 23 attacks and one ace, while outside hitter Kim Hyonju contributed 22 points in the DPR Korea’s loss.
As Korea picked up bronze medal at the previous edition of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, DPR Korea are now contesting their sixth Asian Games in Hangzhou.
In the past five Asian Games they took part, the North Koreans performed well and returned from every edition with similar fourth place – 1974 (Tehran, Iran), 1978 (Bangkok, Thailand), 1982 (New Delhi, India), 1990 (Beijing, China) and 2010 (Guangzhou, China). It took the North Koreans 13 years to return to the Asian Games stage and join the fray in the women’s volleyball competition in the continental multi-sports competition in Hangzhou.
Meanwhile, in the Top 8 round in Pool F at Deqing Sports Center Gymnasium on Thursday, Thailand suffered a setback with their straight-set loss at the hands of Japan in the Hangzhou Asian Games.
World No.13 Thailand fielded talented new generation in decades which gave the country’s women’s national team their maiden spot among the Elite 8 of the 2022 VNL Final Round apart from winning the country’s third Asian Championship title on home soil in September and stunning world No.7 Poland and their home crowd in preliminary Pool C clash in Lodz at the last month’s Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament.
On the other hand, Japan were represented by their second-string squad, seven of them from the recent Asian Championship in Thailand and new forces from five experienced players including outside hitters Mizuki Tanaka and Minami Uesaka.
Thailand had the early edge in the first set, but with the help of some key break points by outside hitters Yuki Nishikawa and Mizuki Tanaka, Japan started to take control and had the final say with 25-23 win in the closely-contested set.
Their confidence raised following the 1-0 advantage, Japan remained in brilliant form in the second set. It was not the Thais making the abundant of unforced errors, but Japan just came up with outstanding performance defensively and offensively, continuing to dominate on the court and pushing forward to 25-19 win.
The third set was tight as Thailand, playing with their backs against the wall in a must-win set, counter-attacked well. Still, their fightback attempts were seemingly blunted by the formidable opponents, who entertained a large crowd of audience inside the venue with their awesome defence, resilience and excellent combination attacks. Thailand put on a gallant fight at home stretch, but their efforts did not pay off. Japan cruised on to a 25-23 blowout of the stubborn rivals.
Outside hitter Yuki Nishikawa chipped in with 15 points, all in attack, for Japan, while fellow outside hitter Mizuki Tanaka added another 11 points including 10 attacks. Middle blocker Haruyo Shimamura and outside hitter Miyu Nakagawa kept good company to contribute 10 points apiece. Opposite Pimpichaya Kokram delivered 16 points from 14 attacks and two blocks for Thailand, with middle blocker Thatdao Nuekjang adding 11 points including 7 kills and 2 blocks.
The other clash at Deqing saw world No.45 Chinese Taipei, which finished a disappointing 9th place at the recent Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Thailand, go down in the first set with ease 16-25, but roared back to beat world No.32 Kazakhstan in the remaining three sets 25-15, 25-23, 25-18 for the eventual 3-1 triumph.
Outside hitter Wu Fang-Yu and fellow outside hitter Chen Tzu-Ya led Chinese Taipei in the dramatic four-set victory with spectacular 21 points apiece, while opposite Tatyana Nikitina delivered 20 points in the Kazakhstan’s loss.
Earlier in the Classification Round for lower-ranked sides contesting ranking 9-13, Mongolia were due to take on Afghanistan in Pool H at Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium in the Thursday morning, but the Afghans bowed out of the competition and had already returned home on Tuesday, resulting in cancellation of the match.
At conclusion of the Top 8 round in round-robin Pool E and Pool F on Thursday, hosts China finished unscathed to top Pool E with perfect 9 points from three consecutive wins without losing a set to their respective opponents, followed by Vietnam with 5 points from two wins against one loss. Korea came in third position in Pool E with 4 points from one win against two losses, while DPR Korea ended in fourth place with no point awarded following their three losses in a row.
Pool F was dominated by Japan with 9 points from three wins in succession, while Thailand came in second place with 6 points from two wins against one loss. Chinese Taipei finished a well-earned third place in Pool F with 3 points from one win against two losses, with winless Kazakhstan in fourth position with no point earned.
On Friday, the penultimate day of the women’s volleyball competition in the Hangzhou-hosted continental multi-sports extravaganza, Hong Kong China will take on Nepal and Mongolia meet India in the Classification Round for ranking 9-12. The playoff encounters for 5-8 places see Chinese Taipei play DPR Korea and Kazakhstan face off against Korea.
In the highly-anticipated semifinals, Thailand set up a rematch with China, the team they went down in straight sets in the final showdown at the previous 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. However, the Thais had already avenged the loss at the last year’s VNL first week Pool 2 with hard-fought 3-2 win against the indomitable giants.
The other semifinal clash sees fast-improving Vietnam go up against Japan with high hopes of surprising the Asian powerhouses and former five-time Asian Games gold medallists with a stunning win to make their unprecedented final in the quadrennial sports extravaganza.
COMPETITION SUMMARY
MATCH SCHEDULE
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