Almaty, Kazakhstan, September 21, 2017 –China collected their second win in Pool A of the 2018 FIVB Women’s World Championship – AVC Qualification Tournament after completing a 3-0 match against hosts Kazakhstan (25-14, 25-19, 25-15) at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace on Thursday.
Captain Zhu Ting led all scorers on the board with 18 points from 15 attacks, two blocks and a service aces.
“We are happy to win this game, but I must say, Kazakhstan played very well today,” said Zhu.
China coach An Jiajie added “It was a challenging match, and for us, it was, at times, difficult to play. But still, we managed to find the best solution to win against Kazakhstan team.”
The solution was to enlist every player as actively as possible. Yan Ni (12 points), Yuan Xinyue (12 points) and Zhang Changning (10 points) likewise figured in double-digits to highlight setter Ding Xia’s superb orchestration.
China imposed their strong frontline early in the first set, establishing a good deal of attacks from Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning, while Yuan Xinyue took charge of the blocks. What also worked well for the Chinese side was a well-ran offence that combined speed with power. As the hosts struggled to find their tempo, China raced to 25-14 on the opener.
In the second set, Kazakhstan showed better coordination of plays and came to challenge their opponents’ attack. Yana Petrenko and Kristina Anikonova connected with blocks against a taller Chinese line-up. While they were able to improve on floor defence, the hosts could not establish effective counter-attacks. This was the exact advantage of the Chinese side: they played consistently at any given time, to win 25-19 in the second set.
By the third set, China went all out to leave little room for their opponents. Zhu continued to lead in scoring and in ensuring the team’s cohesive performance. Kazakhstan played to their best strengths, but eventually fell to defeat against tough competition.
Kazakhstan coach Vyacheslav Shapran commented “This is strongest team in the world. Before today’s match, we only had the chance to see them play on television. For the first time, we had this chance to play against them, and it is a great moment for us.”
Kazakhstan captain Radmila Beresneva added “Today, we showed our best, but of course we had our errors, too. But overall, I think this game was amazing.”
The Chinese side completed the set with 25-15 and led on all fronts (49 spikes, 10 blocks, four service aces) to establish a huge advantage in earning a slot to the World Championships in 2018.
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