China's volleyball team is now a six-time Montreaux champ. (Photo : Reuters)
China, this year’s host of the Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship, continued to step up in its game with another win, beating Japan at 3-0 in a match held on Saturday.
Japan sent a back-up team to Tianjin and finished second in Group C, enabling them to compete with China during the second stage's first match. Japan automatically played being the host for the qualifications for Rio 2016.
Though the team surprised the audience with their sharp and strong spikes, China emerged victorious during the first set, winning by a 6-point margin. China, as well, played with their skills in blocking.
The second match was finished at 25-14, in favor of China. Meanwhile, the strong combination of top players Zeng Chunlei and Zhang Changning contributed to a 10-0 streak in the third quarter, wrapping up the match at 25-10.
Zeng had a game-high of 14 points for China, while Japan's Sakamoto Nanaka topped her team with 10.
According to China coach Lang Ping, "the Japanese players may be young but they can handle the basic skills of the sport smoothly. It's just because we have an obvious advantage with our height."
Japan is set to compete with Iran on Sunday, while China will have a match with Vietnam, who has upset Japan at 3-2 during the group stage, ranking first in Group C.
Recently, China also emerged as the winner in its matches between Iran and India.
The top three teams, except for Japan, on this event will join the World Olympic Qualification Tournament.
