An Jiajie has lead a confident China to the court where they started off the first set extremely assertive taking advantage of mistakes made by the young Brazil side. The fresh but previous U23 FIVB World Champions Brazil also wanted to challenge China. The first technical time-out saw volleyball giant from Southeast Asia leading by 10-5 against a young ambitious Brazil. The U23 champions tried to recover the first set, but dominant China was too quick to benefit from strategic slips Brazil had made. The first set ended with China 25-20 ahead.
During the second set, Brazil team coach Wagner Luiz Coppini Fernandes, better known as Wagão, struggled to fill in the gaps China was using to score in at the beginning. The aspiring stars, however recovered by the first technical time-out 7-7. Wagner’s students proved to be quick to learn as they caught up with resilient China. The second set dominators were China winning 25-17. The U23 world champs, on the other hand, seemed frustrated while switching sides.
The third set started off with stubborn Brazil and of course a rally was witnessed which led to the Brazilian crowd at Pierrier Sports Hall to vigorously cheer for their team. China entered the first technical time-out 10-9 ahead. Brazil tried to take the game to another set and challenged China towards the end of the set with action packed rallies and excellent defence, however the set ended with China player Xiaoya Zhang’s heroic point saving the game for the team at 25-22.
Captain Ruoqi Hui and opposite player Xiangyu Gong both contributed 16 points each. China, however, will have no time to rest on the laurels as they play against last years crowned champions Turkey tomorrow at 6.45 pm. The rising stars of Brazilian Volleyball are going to have the day off and will face Turkey as well on the third game on Thursday at 6.45pm.