Thailand claimed bronze medal after 3-0 shutout of Vietnam
Hangzhou, China, October 7, 2023 – China retained the Asian Games title and turned the electric atmosphere of the Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium into one of the absolute joys with a sensational 3-0 victory over Japan’s second-string squad in the gold-medal match of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Women’s Volleyball Competition that made the home crowd inside the packed venue erupted in celebration.
The exceptional 25-15, 25-21, 25-21 victory gave world No.6 China the eventual title for two in succession in the quadrennial multi-sports extravaganza and has stretched their aura of invincibility to nine in total. Ahead of their victory with remarkable unbeaten record in Hangzhou,
China had already captured eight Asian Games titles, namely 1982 (New Delhi, India), 1986 (Seoul, Korea), 1990 (Beijing, China), 1998 (Bangkok, Thailand), 2002 (Busan, Korea), 2006 (Doha, Qatar), 2010 (Guangzhou, China) and 2018 (Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia).
Following their disappoint loss in the Saturday’s showdown at the hands of hosts China, Japan continued their Asian Games gold-medal drought which has already lasted 45 years since they last captured gold medal at the 1978 Bangkok Games in Thailand.
Against the Chinese, which captured gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and historic silver medal at this year’s VNL to their name, Japan found a tough going with difficulties in overcoming the much-taller blockers with their attacks and retrieving powerful spikes by left-hander Li Yingying and Gong Xiangyu and fast attacks from towering Yuan Xinyue and Wang Yuanyuan.
The 202cm-tall Yuan led the China’s scoring efforts with 7 attacks, while Li Yingying and Wang Yuanyuan, both bagging 5 points each, also played a big part of the team’s first set win 25-15.
Outside hitter Yuki Nishikawa and fellow outside hitter Miyu Nakagawa gave Japan a strong comeback in the second set, which they challenged seriously and gave the host side a threat with attacks and effective blocks. As the Japanese came within a whisker of catching the Chinese at 20-22, the hosts still had enough in their tank to hold them off. Yuan Xinyue carried out a fast attack to help China extend it to 23-20 before middle blocker Haruyo Shimamura landed a thundering spike for the reduced gap 21-23. Yuan did it again to deliver the set point at 24-21 and Li closed out the set for China 25-21 with her heavy…
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