Chinese Team Lashed for Throwing Matches in Volleyball Worlds

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 20, 2002

Chinese Team Lashed for Throwing Matches in Volleyball Worlds

A top Chinese sports official on Thursday blasted at the Chinese women's volleyball team for throwing two matches in the world championship which ended in Germany last week.

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A top Chinese sports official on Thursday blasted at the Chinese women's volleyball team for throwing two matches in the world championship which ended in Germany last week.

As a title favorite, China purposely lost to Greece and South Korea in order to face easy rivals next round and finally finished fourth, according to Li Furong, vice minister of the State General Administration of Sports.

"It was wrong. It was against sportsmanship and fairness," Li said in a meeting with the Chinese team head coach Chen Zhonghe and several Chinese reporters.

"You would still have been criticized if you had won the championship by throwing matches," Li turned to Chen.

China finished runners-up in the second round after benching their top players and losing to South Korea. As a result, the Chinese faced Brazil instead of tougher Italy in the quarterfinals. The group shuffle also caused the Netherlands to be eliminated from the tournament.

The Chinese also finished second in the preliminary round after fielding their second six and losing to Greece.

Italy defeated the United States in five sets to collect its first ever women's world championship volleyball title.

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