After winning in five consecutive AVC Cup for Women tournaments, China has been dethroned by the agile Japanese team to claim their first title in the regional volleyball tournament.
Japan pulled off a four set win, 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-16, against the defending champions, China, to end their reign in the AVC Cup for Women, bringing home the country’s first gold medal in the tournament on Monday at the Philsports Arena in Manila.
The Japanese national team has exacted their revenge after losing to China in the 2018 edition of the AVC Cup in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, and ending China’s winning streak after five consecutive first place finishes.
"I am so grateful for this first championship, especially since we won this altogether. Despite the short time of preparation, we did really great. We have all the top players in the Japanese V-League, we got to highlight everybody's goodness about the play so that was really great about the team," said captain Mika Shibata through an interpreter, who was also named as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
It was a total winning effort from the team led by opposite hitter Mizuki Tanaka with 19 points off of 17 attacks and two service aces, substitute Miwako Osanai added 15 points from 14 attacks and one service ace, while Miyu Nakagawa contributed 10 spikes and two service aces.
"We focused on serve and defense. That worked so we won. I am so happy with the result," added head coach Akira Koshiya.
Zhou Yetong led China’s losing efforts with 14 points, including three blocks, Zhuang Yushan delivered 10 spikes and three blocks, middle blocker Wang Wenhan added 10 attacks and block while Wu Mengjie had 11 points to steal the third set of the match.
"We're still a young team, we learned a lot from the experience from this tournament. We will work harder and do better next time," said China's head coach Kuang Qi through an interpreter.
Aside from the tournament MVP, the AVC also awarded the AVC Cup for Women Dream Team which included Best Outside Hitters Wu Mengjie (China) and Chatchu-on Moksri (Thailand), Best Middle Blockers Hiroyo Yamanaka (Japan) and Hu Mingyuan (China), Best Opposite Spiker Zhou Yetong (China), Best Setter Pornpun Guedpard (Thailand) and Best Libero Rena Mizusngi (Japan).
Tags: #volleyball, #AVC, #Japan