La Cina interrompe la serie di sconfitte e si qualifica per le finali

Dopo aver vinto le prime sei partite della Volleyball Nations League 2023, ma aver perso le successive quattro di fila, la Cina è finalmente tornata a vincere con una vittoria per 3-1 (25-13, 25-21, 21-25, 25-15) contro i padroni di casa della Corea in una partita della Pool 5 disputata sabato a Suwon, che le è bastata per assicurarsi un posto in finale e unirsi alle già qualificate Stati Uniti, Polonia, Turchia, Brasile e Germania. Pochi minuti dopo si sono qualificati anche i campioni in carica dell'Italia. La Cina è salita al quarto posto nella classifica attuale con un record di vittorie e sconfitte di 7-4 e 22 punti. La Corea, che si trova in fondo alla classifica, è stata felice di strappare un set alla potente Cina. È stata solo la terza vittoria dall'inizio della competizione.

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Chinese middle blocker Yuan Xinyue (four stuff blocks and an ace) and her Korean counterpart Kim Daeun (one ace) shared the top scorer honours of the all-Asian clash with 17 points each. Outside hitters Wang Yunlu and Li Yingying contributed 15 and 14, respectively, to their team’s victory.

In a completely one-sided first set, Wang Yunlu led the Chinese attack with six points, the last one of which came from an overpass kill for 25-13. The second started with a direct serving point by setter Diao Linyu, setting the tone for another four Chinese aces during the set. However, Korea recovered from an early 3-0 Chinese lead to catch up at 5-5 and stay competitive through 16-16, after which their opponents stepped in front for good. With two successful first-tempo attacks in a row by captain Yuan Xinyue, China closed the set at 25-21.

Inspired by the home fans on the stands, Korea kept up the fight and it paid off in the third set. With Kim Daeun and Kang Sohwi spearheading the attack, Korea vastly improved their spiking effort, recovered from the three-point deficit they had at 12-9 China’s way and took control until Kang Sohwi fired the 25-21 set winner. The story was about to repeat in the fourth set, when Korea once again came back from a three-point lag and even had the lead for a while. However, after 15-15, with Diao Linyu behind the serving line, China went on a smashing 10-point rampage, crowned by Gong Xiangyu’s monster block for the 25-15 match winner.

“In the beginning we were very close with the Korean team, but we did well in blocking and defence and that’s why we took the match. There were many difficult moments, but I’m happy that we could get through them,” said Yuan Xinyue after the game. “After four matches lost, we thought about the problems we were having and we tried to work on them. So I’m happy for this win. It’s very important for our team.”

Korea will have one more shot at pleasing the home crowd in Suwon with at least one win in this year’s VNL as they entertain table leaders Poland on Sunday at 14:00 local time (05:00 UTC). China’s last Preliminary Phase game will follow at 17:30 (08:30), when they face Finals hosts USA.

Dominican Republic continued to impress in Suwon. Earlier on Saturday, they scored their third consecutive win, this time edging reigning world champions Serbia by a hard-fought to finish their participation in VNL 2023 on a 6-6 win-loss record and 14 points. The Dominicans played as many as six tie-breakers during the Preliminary Phase and managed to win five of them. They will not play at the Finals, but made that opportunity for Serbia look more like a distant dream than a probable outcome. Currently standing 11^th on 5-6 and 17, the southern Europeans will have to win their last match against Bulgaria and rely on Japan losing both of their remaining games, keeping in mind that the Netherlands, currently 10^th also on 5-6 and 17, but better set ratio than Serbia, and Canada, 12^th on 5-6 and 16, are still in the race too. In this thrilling five-setter, Serbian Generation O star Tijana Boskovic produced the match high of 31 points, while three Dominican players reached 20+: Brayellin Martinez with 27, Gaila Gonzalez with 26 and Yonkaira Pena with 20.

Germania e Stati Uniti chiuderanno la giornata di gare a Suwon. La partita inizierà alle 17:30 ora locale (08:30 UTC).

**Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results**

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