Hangzhou, China, July 7, 2023 – Hosts China, steered by promising Yang Shuming, powered past Chinese Taipei in thrilling three-setter 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 in the semifinals of the 1st Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship at Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium on Friday evening.
Captain Yang Shuming topped the leaderboard with 25 points for China, while middle blocker Chen Pinyu scored 21 points on the Chinese Taipei’s losing effort.
The first set saw both sides compete aggressively in offense. Yang Shuming’s thundering attacks highlighted the set, which helped the host break the rally deadlock and clinch the first set 25-18.
China possessed a slight edge in the middle of the second set. Chen Pinyu bounced back to unleash exceptional kills in spite of her disadvantage in height, helping Chinese Taipei surge to 16-15 lead. China responded with spectacular spikes and monster blocks to restrain the opponent’s counterattacks and win it 25-17 for the extended 2-0 lead.
Despite unstable services, China took their height advantage to dominate the game, exploiting powerful attacks and effective blocks to take the initial 15-10 lead in the third set. Yang Shuming led her squad’s offense with a series of fine attacks. Thailand put up a gallant fight but still found the Chinese too hot to handle to go down 18-25.
“I don’t think we have performed well to the full extent. Before this championship, we didn’t have any match with any other team, so my girls felt quite tense on court.” said Kuang Qi, head coach of China, at the Mixed Zone.
“During the match, it’s common to lose some points. But I believe, as you can see, we were at the upper hand in terms of individual abilities. As long as we stabilize the basic actions, it wouldn’t be hard to win.”
“We’ve trained for only one and a half month since this April, which is quite short. We’ll see if we can make it to Top 3. But I don’t think we’ve played to our best so we will try to get improved later.” said Ho Cheng-hua, captain of Chinese Taipei, after the match.
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