China edge Netherlands in 5-set thriller
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E-mail Xinhua, August 5, 2017
Star spiker Zhu Ting inspired China to a dramatic comeback victory over the Netherlands at the 2017 FIVB Grand Prix Finals on Friday.
With the 2-0 win-loss record, China advanced into the semifinals with the 3-2 win (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 20-25, 18-16) against the opponents. Zhu Ting scored 33 points to lead the game, while Yuan Xinyue and Gong Xiangyu added 14 each.
The Netherlands had five players in scoring double digit while Nika Daalderop top the team with 22 points, Celeste Plak scored 20 and Yvon Belien 16.
This is a see-saw game from the beginning, China ran to the 24-21 in the first set, and Gao Yi, a newcomer middle blocker of the Chinese team, successfully denied an attack from the other side of the net to help China take the first set 25-23.
The Netherlands came back strongly in the second set. Leading at 24-23, Daalderop gave the Netherlands the set win with a high-flying spike from the left side.
The following two sets were much similar for both teams, no one could get a comfortable lead, as China won the third set 25-23 and the Netherlands clawed the fourth set back with 25-20.
Trailing 10-14 in the tie-breaker, China sparked a four-point rally to close the gap. Tied at 16-16, Zhu Ting came out fiercely with a counter-attack and a powerful spike in the front to score two points to seal the victory for the host team.
Early on Friday, Tijana Boskovic scored 16 points to help Serbia beat Italy 25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 27-25. The Italians struggled during the game without their main wing-spiker Paola Egonu. Indre Sorokaite took over Paola Egonu's position and topped all scorers with 22 markers, but was not good enough to stop Serbia to claim the victory.
Serbia have won five of the last six meetings in all competitions against Italy.
China will face Italy in the semifinals on Saturday, while another game will be played between Serbia and Brazil.
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