China shook off the pressure of playing on home court to beat
Poland 21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 22-25, 15-9, eluding a two match losing
streak after surrendering to the Netherlands 3-2 a day before at
the FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round on Friday.
"Another five sets match, my team played hard, and really wanted
to win the match. As we lost yesterday, the general conditions were
not so good before the match and looked depressed. I chose the
line-up just before the match," China coach Chen Zhonghe said at
the press conference.
"Through the match, we could see that the team had ups and
downs, and could not score the key points. We have to admit that
our level is not among the top class, we still have to
improve."
Poland coach Marco Bonitta admitted that it is always hard to
play against China.
"Their serving is strong, causing a lot of trouble in reception,
especially in the third set. We need to improve on that," he
added.
Led by veteran Yang Hao, China kept on the scoring track early
in the opening set, storming to 8-3 at the first TTO partially
thanks to a string of unforced errors from Poland's Anna
Podolec.
Overplayed by China, Poland's coach Marco Bonitta had to call
for a TO for his girls, who found the range later to pull within
14-13 after a block on Yang from Maria Liktoras.
Not satisfied with the performance of the younger players in the
line-up, Chen Zhonghe sent on Olympic champions Zhang Yuehong and
Liu Yanan to ease the nerves. But an enterprising Polish team
withstood a strong late charge from China to sail through
25-21.
The Chinese girls were still troubled with ups and downs in the
second set, squandering a 3-1 lead and being overtaken at 5-4.
The host team, to a roaring crowd, still had to dig deep to
bring back the momentum to their side after Xue Ming, Ma Yunwen and
Yang Hao struck home for a 16-10 cushion.
After taking the second set at 25-15 with ease, China was again
in trouble with their error-plagued performance while the Polish
team took a slim lead at 11-9. The Chinese girls managed to keep
rhythm under control and dominate the match thereafter for a 25-16
victory.
After claiming the fourth set at 25-22, Poland pulled the match
into decisive tie break. At 4-4, the Chinese team first pulled away
at 6-4, only to see a three point winning steak from Poland.
Inspired by a thunderous audience, China built up a big cushion
with a 6-1 run at 12-8 en route to the 15-9 victory.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2007)