China go on the attack on the opening day of the Asian Women's World Championship qualifier
Lausanne, Switzerland, September 20, 2017 – China defeated Fiji in straight-sets as the Japan 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship - AVC Qualification Tournament begun at Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty on Wednesday.
“It is the first match of the tournament, and we needed everybody to be well-prepared,” said China coach An Jiajie. “In fact, all of our players went to the court today.”
Two pools are currently taking place for AVC qualifying – one in Almaty and one at the Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium in Thailand. Both pools run from September 20-24.
Both pools feature a single round-robin format, where the top two teams will earn the right to compete in the World Championship.
Pool A features China, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Fiji and Kazakhstan, while Pool B is made up of Korea, DPR Korea, Iran, Vietnam and Thailand.
Chinese Taipei also made a winning start when they beat Australia 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-8). Captain Chen Wang-Ting was the top scorer with 13 points from eight attacks, four blocks and a service ace.
“Australia has progressed a lot in terms of techniques and strategies and this actually gave us some pressure to change some of our strategy during the match,” said Chinese Taipei coach Lin Ming-Hui.
The Thais played at a packed venue in Nakhon Pathom
In Pool B Korea defeated the DPR Korea 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-19), while hosts Thailand matched their straight sets victory by defeating Iran 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-13).