Zhangjiagang, China, July 18, 2019 – Chinese Taipei and hosts China stretched their invincibility after brushing off Macau China and DPR Korea respectively on Day 3 of the 2019 AVC Eastern Zone Men’s Volleyball Championship at Zhangjiagang Sports Center on Thursday.
The first match witnessed a fierce confrontation between Macau China and Chinese Taipei, which saw the latter claim a convincing 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) victory.
In the beginning of the first set, Chinese Taipei got the lead before the first technical timeout, while Macau China tried their best to decrease the gap. However, with perfect defense and offense, Chinese Taipei moved ahead until the end of the first set and won 25-19.
Chinese Taipei kept their advantages and didn’t give their opponents any chance of coming back. Without doubt, they won the second set 25-18.
The highlight of the match occurred in the third set seeing Chinese Taipei encounter turbulence since Macau China changed their way of play. With excellent cooperation, Macau China once led 10-8. However, the mighty Chinese Taipei players were uncompromising and they concluded the set 25-21.
In the second match, Korea showed their power and grabbed the triumph over Hong Kong China in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-11).
The first and second sets were thrilling as both sides gave it all out and stuck to each other till 18-18. Lee Hyeon Seung stood out and led Korea to end both sets 25-20 and 25-22.
Hong Kong China showed their tiredness in the third set while Korea dominated the set 25-11.
China delighted the home fans with a convincing 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) victory against DPR Korea in the last match of the day.
The host team dominated the match from the start in spite of DPR Korea’s continuous efforts to make a counter strike before the first set was ended 25-18.
Teamwork made China stronger in the following two sets as their active attacks opposed pressure on their opponents, forcing them to make errors after errors. China maintained their good run with insurmountable defense. Furthermore, aggressive serves also helped China dominate the second and third sets. DPR Korea fought hard to keep themselves in the match, but their attempts were in vain. China played confidently and consistently to take both sets 25-15, 25-21, match and the third victory in the top-tier competition.
Friday will be the rest day of the championship, while China will take on Korea, DPR Korea will meet Macau China and Hong Kong China will challenge Chinese Taipei on Saturday.
The AVC Eastern Zone Men’s Volleyball Championship is a biennial competition of AVC Eastern Zone. With the participation of six teams from Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Macau China, Korea, DPR Korea and hosts China, the championship this year applied round robin system and is being staged from July 16 to 21. July 19th will be the rest day for the AVC Eastern Zone Annual meeting.
It is for the first time that Zhangjiagang hosts the men’s championship since the city has successfully organized the women’s championship in 2016 and 2018. Zhangjiagang is China’s National Health City, National Eco City and National Civilized City. It was recognized as International Garden City by UNEP in 2005 and was awarded the UN Habitat Scroll of Honor in 2008. Besides, Zhangjiagang is a city fond of volleyball. Many volleyball events, like National volleyball Grand Prix and International Volleyball Challenge have been held in Zhangjiagang.
MATCH RESULTS AND MATCH SCHEDULE
July 16
Korea b Macao, China 3-0(25-19, 25-5, 25-9), Chinese Taipei b DPR Korea 3-1 (25-23,22-25,25-20, 25-15) , China b Hong Kong, China 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15)
July 17
Chinese Taipei b Korea 3-1 (25-20, 27-29, 25-22, 25-23) , DPR Korea b Hong Kong, China 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 26-24) , China b Macao, China 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-15)
July 18
Chinese Taipei b Macao, China 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) , Korea b Hong Kong, China 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-11) , China b DPR Korea 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21)
July 19 Rest day
July 20
14:00 Hong Kong, China vs Chinese Taipei
16:00 DPR Korea vs Macao, China
19:00 Korea vs China
July 21
14:00 DPR Korea vs Korea
16:00 Hong Kong, China vs Macao, China
19:00 China vs Chinese Taipei
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