China pips Japan to win Asian women's volleyball championship

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 28, 2003

China pips Japan to win Asian women's volleyball championship

China defended its title at the 12th Asian women's volleyball championship, beating Japan 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) in the final Friday in Ho Chi Minh City.

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China pips Japan to win Asian women's volleyball championship

China defended its title at the 12th Asian women's volleyball championship, beating Japan 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) in the final Friday in Ho Chi Minh City.

The victory awarded China an automatic Asian berth for the World Cup in Japan in November.

"We did well at serving, attacking and blocking, but our defense was just so-so," said China coach Chen Zhonghe.

In the first set the Japanese were 14-11 ahead before China hita purple passage of a 8-1 run as Yang Hao and Zhao Ruirui teamed up to take six points for China, which held on the lead to win.

Japan fell 18-23 in the second set before they made a 4-0 run. Kurihara Megumi snatched three points in a row to help Japan 23-24,but Sugiyama Sachiko made a deadly mistake in serving to lose the set.

It was easier for China to win the third set as Zhou Suhong scored six of China's last seven points. Zhao Ruirui and Li Shan teamed up to block the attacking from Japan to seal the victory.

"Our players played a high level game in the first two sets, but they still made some mistakes," said Chen.

Japan's head coach Shoichi Yanagimoto said China deserved the crown.

"My players had tried their best, and I'm satisfied with their performance," he said.

Chen said his side had now set sights on a bronze medal at November's World Cup but admitted it wouldn't be an easy job.

Earlier in the day, 2001 runners-up South Korea won over Thailand, 23-25, 25-12, 25-12, 25-14, for the third place.

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