Bangkok, Thailand, July 31, 2021 – Lineup shuffling in a highly-anticipated Pool B clash against formidable Italy gave China a maiden win in the Tokyo 2020 volleyball tournament at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Defending champions China, current world No.3 and bronze medallists at the 2018 World Championship, have yet won a match in Tokyo and had only one point from a disappointing 2-3 loss to Russia. Pool B pacesetters Italy, world No.1 USA and Russia have already secured their quarterfinal berths. Turkey also powered past underdogs Argentina in straight sets earlier on Saturday to become the fourth team from Pool B to advance to the next round, relegating China to be out of contention and have their title defence in tatters.
Against Italy, the Asian powerhouses rested many key players including super star Zhu Ting, who has been suffering from wrist injury, Yan Ni and highly-experienced setter Ding Xia and instead fielded emerging stars led by left-hander Li Yingying, Wang Yuanyuan and setter Yao Di.
However, the team remained strong with the likes of powerful Zhang Changning, Gong Xiangyu and towering 201cm Yuan Xinyue, three of them joined the China’s gold-winning squad in the 2016 Rio Games, while powerful attacker Paola Ogechi Egonu and Elena Pietrini strengthened Italy.
Both sides made strong start in the first set, but China proved their class to surge into a four-point advantage at 22-18, with Li Yingying brilliantly orchestrating the team’s offence whenever she was in play and shaking the opponents’ reception from the serving line and her team was well in control after the battle of midway. China took the set 25-21.
The second set was still dominated by the energetic Chinese, while the Italians started slowly and were errors-strewn as Zhang Changning and Li Yingying won back-to-back points to help China lead with 7-point clear at 22-15. Egonu tried to bring her team back on the right track, but China’s overwhelming dominance continued through a fusion of skill and brute force. China claimed the second set 25-20.
The third set turned out to be an intense battle as the Italians regrouped and bounced back in style to narrowly lead 18-17 and then widen it to 22-20. China showcased their resilience through spectacular attacks from Li Yingying and Wang Yuanyuan’s fast spikes to catch the European powerhouses at 23-all and then 24-24. Both sides gave it all out after that, but the Chinese fared better at home stretch, winning two points in succession to capture the third set 26-24 and match.
Li Yingying chipped in with 15 points including 13 points for China and Zhang Changning added 12. Paola Ogechi Egonu led Italy with 18 points including 14 attacks and 2 blocks, with Elena Pietrini bagging 14 points.
Following their first victory in the Tokyo 2020, China had 4 points from one win against 3 losses to stay at the fifth place in Pool B. They will next play their last preliminary match against Argentina on Monday and despite the fact that the fired-up Chinese are likely to beat the unfancied rivals in comfortable straight sets, their high hopes of advancing remain a far cry from reality.
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