PLA swept defending champions Beijing 3-0 on Thursday to win their first men's volleyball title at the Chinese National Games in 24 years.
After eliminating Chinese league title holders Shanghai and Jiangsu in the quarterfinals and semifinals, PLA beat Chinese league runners-up Beijing 26-24, 26-24 and 26-24 in the final.
"It's our first gold medal at the National Games in 24 years, I am very satisfied with our players and the whole team," said PLA head coach Chen Fang. "We played better and better in the knockout stage and reached our top form in the final."
PLA jumped to a 7-1 lead in the first set and held it to 18-12 before Beijing erased their deficit with a 6-0 burst. After a 24-24 tie, Tang Chuanhang had a smash and Xu Jingtao stuffed Liu Libin to clinch the opener for PLA.
The two sides fought to a 24-all tie again in the second set. Then Tang made it 25-24 with a nice shot and Wu Yiwen came from the bench to produce an ace that awarded the second set to PLA.
In the third set, it was tied at 24-all again before Xu had a kill and a double block against Liu Libin wrapped the match.
"Nobody expected us to win before this tournament. Before the quarterfinals, some of our players assumed that we would probably be sent packing. But we survived and held on for the victory," said PLA captain Zhong Weijun. "It's my fourth and maybe the last National Games, it's perfect to finish with a gold medal."
Jiang Chuan notched a game high 24 points, but that was not enough to help Beijing defend the title.
"As a young team, we did not play as well as our opponents towards the end of each set, we will go back and improve ourselves in the next four years."
