By Wang Leon
Xi’an, China, September 22, 2021 – Jiangsu and Tianjin both have secured their top four spots, while Shanghai, Liaoning and Shandong will strive for the remaining two after 6 rounds of play in the round-robin phase of China National Games Senior Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Aoxiang Gymnasium of Northwestern Polytechnical University here.
After powering past Shanghai 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-16) and sweeping Liaoning 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19) in the 5th and 6th rounds successively, defending champions Jiangsu remain unbeaten and top the pool with 17 points.
Powerhouses Tianjin, edged out by Jiangsu in the first round, proved their superiority with following 5 straight-set wins in a row to come in second in the pool with 16 points.
Shanghai opened their journey in the tournament with 3 streak wins, but were defeated by Tianjin and Jiangsu in the 4th and 5th rounds. In Wednesday’s match against Zhejiang, they went all out to secure a convincing and crucial 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18) victory, and thus take a well-earned 3rd place in the pool with 4-2 record and 12 points.
Liaoning kept their key players on the bench and yielded to in-form Jiangsu 0-3 (17-25, 19-25, 19-25) on Wednesday. They are positioned the fourth place in the pool with 4-2 record and 11 points. They will fight against Shanghai in the last round Thursday to vie for the other top four ticket.
Shandong also retain their chance to top four as they overwhelmed Henan 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-17) on Wednesday to claim their third consecutive win following three successive failures since the beginning. They are slotted in the 5th place with 3-3 record and 10 points. In the last round, they will challenge undefeated Jiangsu for a possible berth in top four.
Guangdong, Zhejiang, with similar 1-5 record and winless Henan have already lost their chance to top four, and they will seek their final ranking after the last round of play according to their placing in the preliminaries.
Competition Schedule and Results
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
Shandong v Tianjin 0-3 (24-26, 22-25, 16-25)
Liaoning v Zhejiang 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-20)
Guangdong v Shanghai 0-3 (17-25,16-25,20-25)
Jiangsu v Henan 3-1 (25-14, 25-22,23-25,25-16)
Sunday, September 19
Zhejiang v Shandong 0-3 (17-25, 16-25, 11-25)
Henan v Liaoning 0-3 (16-25, 16-25, 20-25)
Guangdong v Jiangsu 0-3 (23-25, 19-25, 6-25)
Shanghai v Tianjin 0-3 (18-25, 23-25, 25-27)
Monday, September 20
Rest Day
Tuesday, September 21
Liaoning v Guangdong 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-13)
Jiangsu v Shanghai 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-16)
Shandong v Henan 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-15)
Tianjin v Zhejiang 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17)
Wednesday, September 22
Jiangsu v Liaoning 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19)
Guangdong v Shandong 0-3 (18-25, 11-25, 17-25)
Henan v Tianjin 0-3 (10-25, 17-25, 13-25)
Shanghai v Zhejiang 3-0 (25-19,25-19, 25-18)
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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