Photos courtesy of China Volleyball Association
Bangkok, Thailand, October 2, 2020 – Tianjin pulled off a stunning 3-2 win against unbeaten Jiangsu to cruise to the final showdown of the Chinese Women’s Volleyball Championship in Jiangmen, China on Thursday.
The epic 27-25 20-25 25-20 18-25 15-10 win in the semi-finals against the pre-race favourites Jiangsu secured Tianjin a place in the final showdown, where they will go up against Shandong.
The match between Tianjin and Jiangsu turned out to be a clash of the Titans as both sides tried to perform their best. As the devastating left-hander Li Yingying, 20, spearheaded Tianjin, Jiangsu were also strong with the likes of Zhang Changning and Gong Xiangyu, both of whom played for the gold medal-winning China national team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
It was a see-saw battle as Tianjin took the hard-fought first set 27-25 before Jiangsu bounced back with mighty attacks and good blocks to claim the second set 25-20 for a 1-1 tie.
Tianjin regrouped in the third set, with Li Yingying tearing the Jiangsu’s defence apart with her fierce spikes for the 25-20 win. Despite trailing 1-2, Jiangsu did not give up in the fourth set as they intensified their defence, allowing the rivals difficulties in attacking. Jiangsu came to life after winning the set 25-18, forcing Tianjin to play a do-or-die tie-breaker.
The decider saw Tianjin remain in great form to rally past Jiangsu 15-10. The Tianjin’s thrilling 3-2 win not also secured a final berth, but also avenged the first-round loss to the same rivals.
In the final, Tianjin will take on Shandong, which came from behind to beat Shanghai in four-set thriller 36-38 25-20 25-22 25-18 in the other semi-final encounter.
Meanwhile, in the classification round for the 5th-8th places, Zhejiang outclassed Sichuan 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) and Liaoning hit back to beat Fujian 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 15-10).
In the 9th-13th playoffs, Beijing defeated Henan 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-17), with Guangdong beating Hebei 3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 25-19, 29-27).
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