By Wang Leon
Xi’an, China, September 16, 2021 – Jiangsu and Shanghai claimed their second consecutive win while Tianjin and Guangdong tasted maiden victories apiece on Day 2 of China National Games Senior Women’s Volleyball Tournament here at the Aoxiang Gymnasium of Northwestern Polytechnical University.
Jiangsu recovered from one-set down to pull off a thrilling 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 26-24) triumph over Zhejiang.
The first set saw both sides exchange points from the beginning. Zhejiang requested a timeout at 13-15 and they subsequently scored 8 points in a row to establish a comfortable 21-15 lead thanks to the constant destructive services by Shen Jiarong. Following a killing first-touch hit, Zhejiang took the first set 25-17.
Jiangsu managed to stabilize their reception in the second set and reached the set point 24-21. Zhejiang struggled to save two set points, however they missed a first-touch ball and unfortunately lost the second set 23-25.
Defending champions Jiangsu proved their superiority especially in handling crucial balls as they secured the following two sets 25-23 and 26-24.
Shanghai continued their winning streak with a convincing 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21) victory against Shandong.
In the third match, with Ding Xia’s excellent skill, Liaoning produced a bunch of troubles for Tianjin. However, the three successive National Games title holders proved their dominance as they clinched a straight-set win over Liaoning 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-12).
Guangdong met up with fierce comeback in the third set, nevertheless, they managed to conclude the last match of the day with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19) victory against Henan.
After two rounds of play in the round-robin phase, Shanghai and Jiangsu took the pool top two spots with 2 wins in a row while Tianjin, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Liaoning were placed 3rd to 6th with 1-1 record all followed by winless Shandong and Henan.
The round-robin preliminaries have 7 rounds of play. Top 4 teams of the pool will advance to semifinals, while the rest teams will be ranked according to their preliminary performances.
Match Schedule
Thursday, September 16
Henan v Shanghai 0-3 (19-25, 21-25, 19-25)
Guangdong v Zhejiang 2-3 (25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 16-25, 7-15)
Jiangsu v Tianjin 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 18-25, 19-17)
Liaoning v Shandong 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-17, 15-12).
Friday, September 17
Zhejiang v Jiangsu 1-3 (25-17, 23-25, 23-25, 24-26)
Shanghai v Shandong 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21)
Tianjin v Liaoning 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-12)
Henan v Guangdong 1-3 (19-25, 16-25, 25-22, 19-25)
Saturday, September 18
13:00 Shandong v Tianjin
15:00 Liaoning v Zhejiang
17:00 Guangdong v Shanghai
19:00 Jiangsu v Henan
Sunday, September 19
13:00 Zhejiang v Shandong
15:00 Henan v Liaoning
17:00 Guangdong v Jiangsu
19:00 Shanghai v Tianjin
Monday, September 20
Rest Day
Tuesday, September 21
13:00 Liaoning v Guangdong
15:00 Jiangsu v Shanghai
17:00 Shandong v Henan
19:00 Tianjin v Zhejiang
Wednesday, September 22
13:00 Jiangsu v Liaoning
15:00 Guangdong v Shandong
17:00 Henan v Tianjin
19:00 Shanghai v Zhejiang
Thursday, September 23
13:00 Tianjin v Guangdong
15:00 Zhejiang v Henan
17:00 Liaoning v Shanghai
19:00 Shandong v Jiangsu
Friday, September 24
Rest Day
Saturday, September 25
Semifinals 1
Semifinals 2
Sunday, September 26
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
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