Hangzhou, China, October 2, 2023 – China, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan captured top spots in respective pools to become Top 4 title contenders at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Women’s Volleyball Competition, as daunting challenges await teams in next round matchups of the continental multi-sports extravaganza.
Participating teams strutted their stuff on Monday, the last day of the pool round-robin preliminaries, to fight for two berths on offer for the top two teams from each pool to make the cut for Top 8. Lower-ranked teams finishing 3rd and 4th places from each pool will be relegated to classification round for ranking 9-13.
At Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium, Japan pulled off scintillating 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-13) win against Kazakhstan in Pool D, Korea demolished Nepal 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-11) in Pool C and Hong Kong, China crushed Afghanistan 3-0 (25-2, 25-7, 25-3) in Pool D. The encounters at Deqing Sports Center Gymnasium saw Thailand overcome Mongolia 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-12) in Pool B and China put it past DPR Korea 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-8) in Pool A.
Japan, world No.9 and well-earned fourth place at the previous 18th edition of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, fielded a mixed team of seven players from the 22nd Asian Senior Championship in Thailand and five new competitive forces led by outside hitter Minami Uesaka, middle blocker Shion Hirayama and setter Koyomi Iwasaki.
Against Kazakhstan, whose height average is 180cm, the smaller-built Japanese opened an early lead in the opening set with a 7-point clear at 15-8 and stayed in control until middle blocker Haruyo Shimamura produced an ace to hand the team the set point at 24-16. Opposite Tatyana Nikitina saved the day for Kazakhstan with an aggressive attack before Japan wrapped up the first set 25-17.
Riding the momentum, the Japanese remained in exceptional form to break away on a 12-6 run and never looked back. Kazakhstan bounced back to come up with some crucial points and reduce the gap 20-24, but it was too late to start some kind of a comeback. Japan went on their attacks to win the thrilling set 25-20.
The third set became one-way traffic as Japan totally controlled the game. The lead was as wide as 10 points when the Japanese had a tremendous performance, firing some fine attacks and aces for 17-7. They were able to extend it to 22-12, allowing the Kazakhs only one more point to seal the one-sided set 25-13 and match.
Outside hitter Minami Uesaka contributed 16 points from 13 attacks, one block and 2 aces for Japan, while fellow outside hitter Yuki Nishikawa added another 13 points. Opposite Tatyana Nikitina led Kazakhstan with a match-high 20 points including 17 kills from 49 attempts.
Kazakhstan dominated the blocking game, getting 9 stuffs to Japan’s four, but the formidable Japanese did a very good job of leading their opponents in kills (52 to 28) and aces (9 to 3), but both sides benefited from similar opponent errors (10 to 10).
Earlier, world No.40 Korea regained the pride lost the previous day to brush off gallant Nepal with a sensational 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-11) win in their last Pool C encounter.
Outside hitter Kang Sohwi steered Korea to the convincing win, producing 19 points from 14 kills, one block and team-leading 4 aces. Opposite Lee Seonwoo and outside hitter Pyo Seungju kept good company to add 10 points apiece for the win. No Nepalese player reached double digits, with outside hitter Pratibha Mali contributing 6 points including 5 kills from 26 attempts.
On the previous day, Korea left the competition venue with heads low in despair following their shock 2-3 defeat at the hands of fast-improving Vietnam, the team which had already beaten them with the similar margin 3-2 at the Nakhon Ratchasima-hosted 22nd Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Thailand in September.
The other match between Hong Kong, China and Afghanistan saw the former taste their first victory at the Hangzhou Asian Games after mercilessly crushing the latter in a totally one-sided battle 25-2, 25-7, 25-3.
Middle blocker Ngai Kwai Ting emerged as the top scorer of Hong Kong, China to deliver 10 points from 4 attacks, one block and five aces, while opposite Negin Mohammadi, libero Mohaddese Amiri, outside hitter Halima Hassani, middle blocker Zahra Moradi and fellow outside hitter Narges Mosavi scored one point each for Asian Games debutantes Afghanistan.
However, the Hong Kong, China’s victory came too late as, despite the overwhelming 3-0 win against Afghanistan, both sides missed the cut for Top 8 and were relegated to classification round for ranking 9-13.
At Deqing Sports Center Gymnasium, world No.13 and Asian champions Thailand, which saw off Chinese Taipei 3-1 the previous day, made it two in a row in Hangzhou after 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-12) demolition of Mongolia.
Outside hitter Sasipapron Janthawisut chipped in with 15 points from 12 kills, 2 blocks and one ace for Thailand, while opposite Pimpichaya Kokram and middle blocker Jarasporn Bundasak added 11 points apiece for the team’s triumph.
Opposite Enkhnaran Ganbold led Mongolia with 13 points including 12 attacks from 35 attempts.
The second match at the same venue on Monday saw hosts and world No.6 China, which captured gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games and silver medal at the 2023 VNL to their name, prove too strong for DPR Korea. With devastating left-hander Li Yingying, Gong Xiangyu and the tall and towering Yuan Xinyue, 202cm, on fire, China delighted the cheering home fans packing the venue with their exceptional 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-8) win.
Outside hitter Li Yingying scored a match-high 19 points from 14 kills, 2 blocks and 3 aces for China, while middle blocker Wang Yuanyuan added 14 and opposite Gong Xiangyu and middle blocker Yuan Xinyue 11 apiece. Opposite Choe Pokhyang scored 13 points, all in attack, in the DPR Korea’s loss.
At the completion of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Monday, Asian powerhouses China finished atop Pool A with six points from two wins in succession, while DPR Korea came in second place with 3 points from one win against one loss. India did not win a match to be content with the third position with no points earned.
Thailand captured the top spot in Pool B with 6 points from two consecutive wins. Chinese Taipei took the second spot with 3 points from one win against one loss, with winless Mongolia in third place.
World No.39 and AVC Challenge Cup winners Vietnam completed their Pool C encounters undefeated to top the pool with 5 points from two wins in a row. Korea finished second with 4 points from one win against one loss, while winless Nepal came in third position with no point awarded.
Japan finished atop Pool D with 9 points from three straight wins, followed by Kazakhstan with 6 points from 2 wins against one loss. Hong Kong, China came in third place with 3 points from one win against two losses, while underdogs Afghanistan did not win a set in the pool play to finish fourth in Pool D.
As the pool preliminaries came to a close on Monday, top two teams from each pool advanced to ranking 1-8 in Pool E (A1, A2, C1, C2) and Pool F (B1, B2, D1, D2), while lower-ranked teams finishing 3rd and 4th places from each pool were relegated to Classification Round for ranking 9-13 in Pool G (A3, C3), and Pool H (B3, D3, D4).
Teams will contest a round robin again in Top 8 round. However, teams which have already met in the preliminaries need not play each other again, but their results will be taken into account for team ranking. After that, top two teams from Pool E and Pool F will compete in the cross semifinals, with the two winning teams through to the final showdown.
Tuesday, October 3 will be a rest day. The competition resumes on Wednesday in Top 8 and classification round for ranking 9-13.
COMPETITION SUMMARY
MATCH SCHEDULE
QUICK LINKS
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation