Women spikers, cagers off to flier
Source: Agencies |
July 29, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA overcame a slow start to overpower Serbia 3-1 yesterday on the opening day of the women's volleyball competition at the London Olympics.
Middle blocker Xu Yunli finished with 17 points for China, which won 16-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-12. The third-ranked Chinese fell behind 3-12 in the opening set and looked out of sorts.
Serbia cruised from there, claiming the set on Brankica Mihajlovic's spike.
Serbia, the 2011 European Champion, finished fifth at the Beijing games. The sport's international federation ranks the Serbian women seventh in the world.
China, which won the bronze in Beijing, rebounded to roll through the second and third sets, appearing stronger as the match wore on.
Chinese star Wang Yimei, known for her powerful jump serve, was coming off of a surgery to her ligament damage in her right ankle.
The 1.83-meter wing spiker appeared fully recovered from the injury. Wang finished with 11 points.
Milena Rasic led Serbia by 14 points.
The Chinese national volleyball team lost four straight matches at the World Grand Prix.
However, Yu told reporters before the start of the London Games that he was satisfied with the current fitness of his team.
In the first match of the competition yesterday at Earls Court, Japan swept Algeria, 25-15, 25-14, 25-7. Saori Kimura led the Japanese with 15 points.
Also yesterday, Ma Zengyu scored 16 points to lead China to a 66-57 victory over the Czech Republic in their Group A opener, the first game of the women's basketball competition.
China held double-digit leads in the first and second halves, but needed a 13-4 spurt to end the game to seal the victory.
"I was overwhelmed," said Ma, a 30-year-old veteran who played her first Olympic match. "We started well and my teammates trusted me. They created a lot of opportunities for me and I made the shots."
Ma shot 4-out-of-4 in the field, including three 3-pointers, and made all three free-throws in the first half when China led 36-29.
The gritty Czech Republic never led after scoring the first basket of the game, but battled back to tie the game twice - once at 24 and again at 53 with 7:34 to play.
But China used a couple of missed shots by the Czechs to pull away down the stretch and surprise the 2010 World Championship silver medalists.
China plays Croatia tomorrow, and the Czech Republic takes on Turkey.
Middle blocker Xu Yunli finished with 17 points for China, which won 16-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-12. The third-ranked Chinese fell behind 3-12 in the opening set and looked out of sorts.
Serbia cruised from there, claiming the set on Brankica Mihajlovic's spike.
Serbia, the 2011 European Champion, finished fifth at the Beijing games. The sport's international federation ranks the Serbian women seventh in the world.
China, which won the bronze in Beijing, rebounded to roll through the second and third sets, appearing stronger as the match wore on.
Chinese star Wang Yimei, known for her powerful jump serve, was coming off of a surgery to her ligament damage in her right ankle.
The 1.83-meter wing spiker appeared fully recovered from the injury. Wang finished with 11 points.
Milena Rasic led Serbia by 14 points.
The Chinese national volleyball team lost four straight matches at the World Grand Prix.
However, Yu told reporters before the start of the London Games that he was satisfied with the current fitness of his team.
In the first match of the competition yesterday at Earls Court, Japan swept Algeria, 25-15, 25-14, 25-7. Saori Kimura led the Japanese with 15 points.
Also yesterday, Ma Zengyu scored 16 points to lead China to a 66-57 victory over the Czech Republic in their Group A opener, the first game of the women's basketball competition.
China held double-digit leads in the first and second halves, but needed a 13-4 spurt to end the game to seal the victory.
"I was overwhelmed," said Ma, a 30-year-old veteran who played her first Olympic match. "We started well and my teammates trusted me. They created a lot of opportunities for me and I made the shots."
Ma shot 4-out-of-4 in the field, including three 3-pointers, and made all three free-throws in the first half when China led 36-29.
The gritty Czech Republic never led after scoring the first basket of the game, but battled back to tie the game twice - once at 24 and again at 53 with 7:34 to play.
But China used a couple of missed shots by the Czechs to pull away down the stretch and surprise the 2010 World Championship silver medalists.
China plays Croatia tomorrow, and the Czech Republic takes on Turkey.
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