Unbeaten China One Step away from Asian Championship Title

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 12, 2003

Unbeaten China One Step away from Asian Championship Title

It will be a Sino-Korean battle at the Asian Men's Volleyball Championships as the two traditional powerhouses convincingly beat their rivals Thursday at Tianjin Gymnasium.

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It will be a Sino-Korean battle at the Asian Men's Volleyball Championships as the two traditional powerhouses convincingly beat their rivals Thursday at Tianjin Gymnasium.

The hosts won a four-set battle 25-18, 25-16, 19-25, 25-16 against emerging Asian power Iran, who pushed five-time winners Japan out of the title-deciding final round-robin competition.

Defending champions South Korea also came back after the first set to outplay two-time runners-up Australia 16-25, 25-19 25-19, 25-22 in another match of the day.

China and South Korea both stood with two wins and will meet today to decide the winner of the title of the 15-team tournament.

The two teams also secured their tickets to the World Cup later this year alongside Japan who will host the cup event.

China, not losing even a single set in previous matches, met some real resistance during the third set after they took the first two sets with distant leads 25-18 and 25-16.

In the third set, Iran's smashing jump serves became a big headache for China as the Chinese could not deliver the same effective attacks they had in the first two sets. Iran quickly turned things around and in less than five minutes surged to 15-9 and went on to win the set 25-19.

However, China recovered after the set break, leading throughout the fourth before a smash from Tang Miao ended the one hour 25 minute match.

"The players were too tired in the third set because of too many matches in the past few days," said Chinese head coach Di Anhe.

"But I am glad that their spirit is very high so that they were soon able to get back into their normal form."

Iran's South Korean head coach Park Ki-won also said the tight schedule of the tournament had an obvious impact on his team.

"We are not in good condition and the players' physical condition is a big problem."

In another match, the South Koreans overcame towering Australia with their trademark fast play and wall-like defence and put themselves on the way for their fourth tournament title.

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