China to meet Japan in Asian Women's Championship Final

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, September 26, 2003 - Title holders China will play Japan in the final of the 12th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship after beating their respective semifinal rivals on Friday.

World No 3 China, as expected, proved too strong for the smaller Thailand side using their average height of 185cm to spike and block from every angle to cruise to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) win. It was only in the beginning of each of the three sets that there was a real contest with the scores being tied several times but China, with middle blocker 197cm tall Zhao Ruirui to the fore with 18 points, eventually came out on top. Despite the comfortable victory Chen Zhonghe, head coach of the Chinese team, expressed his dissatisfaction with his team, saying they made too many mistakes.

In the other semifinal match Japan upset Korea in straight sets (26-24, 25-21, 25-19). Both teams played superb Volleyball, especially on defense, in what was a particularly tight contest but it was Japan who showed enough metal to come from behind and claim the first set 26-24. The advantage of the Japanese team became more visible from the beginning of the second and third sets when they performed better in spiking, blocking and defense to seal their spot in the final.

Earlier in the afternoon, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam won their respective semifinals in the 5th-8th position playoffs. Chinese Taipei beat the Philippines 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-11) in just 53 minutes while hosts Vietnam struggled past Kazakhstan in a grueling five set match 3-2 (25-16, 19-25, 16-25, 25-18, 15-9).

The final and the play offs for third, fifth and seventh will all take place on Saturday.