World No 1 China find the Poles too tough
World No 1 China succumbed to their second defeat in the Girls' Under-18 World Volleyball Championship at Liptapanlop Hall when they went down to European giants Poland in four hard-fought sets 25-21 25-21 21-25 26-24 in a Pool B match on Saturday.
Malwina Smarzek top scored with 28 points for Poland, while Chinese Yuan Xinyue scored a match-high 19 points.
After a 2-3 letdown to Asian champions Japan in the previous match, China, silver medallists at the previous world meet in Turkey two years ago, played with more consistency in their encounter against Poland, 3-2 winners over Greece. However, the Poles proved a tough nut to crack.
Led by the tall and towering Yuan Xinyue, at 199cm, China failed to make their mark in the match.
The Chinese committed several unforced mistakes that cost them dear.
China lost the first set 21-25. The situation remained unchanged in the second set. Poland carried out powerful attacks and solid blocks which foiled China’s attempts. Poland wrapped up the set with the same margin, 25-21.
In the third set, Poland maintained their awesome form. They raced to an 8-4 lead, thanks to some thundering cross-court spikes by Malwina Smarzek. The Chinese roared back to even at 9. They continued their mighty attacks to win the crucial set 25-21 to narrow the gap 1-2.
China badly needed a win in the next set to take the match to the decider, but Poland did not allow them a chance. At 24-24, Poland attacked spectacularly to snatch two crucial points to win the fourth set 26-24 and the match.
Commenting on his team’s form, Poles’ head coach Girzegorz Kosatka said, “We beat the world’s best team and I would like to congratulate my players on this remarkable success. Everyone did a good job.”
China’s head coach Dong Ruijun said, “Poland played very well. We were so excited about the match and thought we will pull off a victory. Poland are quite strong tactically. Our training was not good enough. We will try to improve our form in the next match.”
Elsewhere, Argentina stunned Asian winners Japan 3-0 (25-23 34-32 25-21), Peru edged Italy 3-2 (26-28 19-25 25-20 25-22 15-13), and Turkey outclassed Taiwan 3-0 (25-17 25-16 25-23).
At the adjacent Chatchai Hall, Puerto Rico downed Tunisia 3-1(24-26 25-22 25-17 25-21), Serbia crushed Egypt 3-0 (25-14 25-14 25-20), Brazil thrashed Algeria 3-0 (25-8 25-15 25-11), Slovenia gunned down USA 3-1 (25-23 25-15 18-25 25-22).
Hosts Thailand did not have a match on Saturday, but were due to take on Serbia in Pool A yesterday.
