China Survive Two Match Points to Crown at International Women’s Volleyball
06/07/2006
Beijing, China, June 3, 2006 -- China survived two match points in the decider to beat Russia 3-2 in a thrilling five-set clash Saturday evening to win the Baxy Cup China International Women’s Volleyball Tournament with an unbeaten record.
Earlier in the afternoon, Olympic bronze medallists Cuba beat the Netherlands 25-23, 25-22, 24-26 and 25-22 to finish third.
The Chinese women beat Russia 25-12, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 17-15 for their third straight victory in the four-team round-robin competition while Russia finished winless during their Chinese volleyball tour.
Trailing 14-13 in the fifth set, China’s Li Juan stood out to smash a ball home beating off one match point and Russia then did a favor for China by serving a ball out when leading 15-14. Inspired by the roaring audience, the Chinese women ran off two points in a row to take the decider at 17-15.
In a bid to give each player enough practice, Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe fielded a brand-new line- up, resting Olympic champions Feng Kun, Zhou Suhong, Yang Hao and Liu Ya’nan.
“Although we have ups and downs during the match, it pays to send every player on the court,” said Chen.
Currently there are a total of 15 players in the Chinese side out of which only 12 can make the final roster for the World Championship slated for November in Japan.
“We should prepare a lot for the future as starting line-up and substitutes need to supplement each other at the important tournaments. ”
Cuba took the second place at the tourney with two wins against one loss, followed by the Netherlands and Russia in third and fourth respectively. The final rankings are completely copied from the Beilun Cup China International Women’s Volleyball Tournament held from May 26 to 28 in Ningbo, where the same four teams started the two-stop competition.
China started well with a 6-3 early lead and then use a 7-0 rush to beat off Russia’s comeback jumping to 19-10 and sealed the set with 25-12. The second set was hotly contested as the two teams fought for tie many times. After 20-20, the Russian women sparkled to take the set 25-21.
The third and fourth set almost proved the same pattern with the Chinese winning at 25-23 and the Russians taking the fourth set also at 25-23.
In the match between Cuba and the Netherlands, overcoming a slow start in the first two sets, the Netherlands played an impressive counter-attack in the third set and coming back from two sets down, they showed their nerve and clawed back in the third as they battled the Cubans for tie from 14-all to 24-all. Captain Vissar stuffed Cuban spiker Rosir Calderon and Staelens drove the ball home to give the Netherlands a laudable win.
The fourth set was also hotly contested. Trailing 24-20, the Dutch women beat off two set points to make it 24-22 but a long Staelens spike awarded the final victory to Cuba.
“The Netherlands prepared quite well before the match. They are a promising team and have a strong wish to win,” said Cuba head coach Felipe Calderon.
“It was a pretty close match. The Cubans played aggressively at the start,” said Dutch head coach Avital Selinger. “I am happy that Cuba played to their best as they posed a great challenge for us.”
“We found rhythm at last and was able to compete with them. Overall speaking, it was an exciting match. ”
