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The Peninsula
Chiba: China yesterday secured a place among the top four teams at the 21st Asian Senior Men's Volleyball Championship with a tie-break win, 3-2 (28-26, 21-25, 26-28, 25-19, 15-10) over Qatar.
The Pool E match was played at the Chiba Port Arena.
Zhang Jingyin who scored 26 points remained China's main option in offense, as he connected quite consistently with his attacks. Captain Jiang Chuan added 23 points.
Qatar set their plays on Youssef Oughlaf and Nikola Vasic at the flanks.
Teams displayed nearly equal strength, showing that they could also run the middle attack effectively.
China always maintained the edge but Qatar inched closer with a huge swing from Oughlaf, to help extend the set.
Qatar suffered from attack errors and lost grip of the end game, giving China the first set at 28-26.
In the second set, China played in their usual form, with setter Yu Yaochen running his plays fast and tight. He was able to utilize many options with his reliable outside hitters Zhang Jingyin and Yu Yuantai.
Qatar showed that they could play along this tempo, and work transition plays with Renan Ribeiro from the left side. They could also be adept in lining up their blocks against the opponents' hitters. Ribeiro connected with a block on the flank to complete Qatar's 25-21 win in the second set.
China looked strong and superbly composed in the third set. Their dominating frontline orchestrated a highly efficient middle attack on Li Yongzhen.
Qatar kept to the same tempo in the beginning, but started going off-synch in some sequences. They were struggling to remain consistent through the tough challenges. By resetting their tempo, they were able to run the wing attacks once again.
The teams tried to edge each other with the side-out. With lucky tap-in and a block later, Qatar won 28-26 in the third set,
In the fourth set, the Chinese side rushed to pick up their points their attack unit. Their setter sustained a good, fast rhythm that served the momentum of the hitters.
The Qatar side still took good swings but they were being closely guarded by tall blockers.
Peng Shikun struck at the middle to finish the fourth set with 25-19 for China. In the decider, China connected with 4 quick blocks to stamp their power and intent to win. It was the Jiang Chuan show, as he attacked, blocked, aced, and led the team in high adrenaline, all the way to a 15-10 triumph in the tie-break.
China will look to add another title to their portfolio, after their championship trophies in 1979, 1997, and 1999.
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