Team China pose with medals after the awarding ceremony at the 18th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championships in Tianjin, north China, May 28, 2015. China won 3-0 in the final against South Korea to claim the title. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)
China defeated South Korea 3-0 in the final to lift their Asian Women' s Volleyball Championship title for the 13th time here on Thursday.
The hosts was 0-4 down at the start before Zhu Ting smashed the first point. South Korea kept the advantage and forced Jenny Lang Ping used two time-out this set. As Kim Yeokoung' s smash gave South Korea the 20-18 lead, China stormed six points to surpass and finished the set 25-21 with Zeng Chunlei' s spike.
It' s Zhu Ting again who start China' s scoring pace with a block. South Korea was 12-16 behind before they called a time-out. Then they had a five-point streak to take the lead 17-16. After exchanging advantages, Zhu Ting and Hui Ruoqi combined with four points to get the set point for China and South Korea lost 21-25 with a turnover.
China led all the way from the start of the third set. South Korea once came behind from 7-14 to 20-22. But Zhu Ting then spiked twice to give China the match point with 24-20. After Kim Yeokoung' s last performance above the net, Zhu Ting smashed for the third time in a row and finished the match with another 25-21.
Zhu Ting led China with 21 points while Kim Yeokoung had a match-high 22. Both players were awarded as the best spikers and Zhu acquired the MVP of this year' s Championship.
"This is a new start for us," said Lang Ping, head coach of China, "but we are on the same level with our opponents in Asia."
Thailand beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the bronze medal match. The rankings from the fifth to the eighth are Vietnam, Japan, Kazakhstan and Iran.
