Zhangjiagang, China, July 16, 2019 – Hosts China delighted home crowds with a scintillating 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15) win in their debut encounter against Hong Kong China on the opening day of the 2019 AVC Eastern Zone Men’s Volleyball Championship at Zhangjiagang Sports Center Gymnasium.
Following the welcome speech and opening declaration by Ms. Wang Yu, Vice Mayor of Zhangjiagang Municipal People’s Government, the host side started solidly, taking the lead to the first technical time-out by 8-3 benefiting from several errors from the opponents. However, Hong Kong China refreshed to come back and made it a seesaw situation before China found back the state and won the first set 25-21.
Similarly, from the beginning of the second and third sets, two teams’ points were still very close. However, China seized every opportunity to attack and kept the advantage to finish the remaining two sets 25-15 25-15.
In the opening match earlier, Korea proved their superiority by sweeping the rivals Macao China in straight sets 25-19, 25-5, 25-9 within 58 minutes. Macao China had a higher error rate in the beginning and they attempted to use frequent substitution to turn the tide. However, it did not work as Kim Jae Hoon and Lee Hyeon Seung led Korea to win the first set 25-19. In the following two sets, Korea turned the match to a one-sided situation, thanks to the wonderful performance of all the members in their team.
Elsewhere, the second match between DPR Korea and Chinese Taipei was really dramatic. During the first two sets, the two teams caught up with each other all the time and won a set respectively. In the next two sets, Chinese Taipei took the advantage by excellent attacking and blocking and concluded the game by 3-1 ( 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15).
The AVC Eastern Zone Men’s Volleyball Championship is a biennial competition of AVC Eastern Zone. With the participation of six teams of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Macau China, Korea, DPR Korea and hosts China, the championship this year will apply round robin system and will be 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
14:00 Chinese Taipei vs Korea
16:00 Hong Kong, China vs DPR Korea
19:00 Macao, China vs China
July 18
14:00 Macao, China vs Chinese Taipei
16:00 Korea vs Hong Kong, China
19:00 China vs DPR Korea
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
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: https://twitter.com/avcvolley
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation