China came out unbeaten to
reach the second round of the 2006 women's volleyball world championship as the
Olympic titlist easted past Mexico in Sapporo, Japan on Friday.
China's Liu Yanan(L)attacks as a
player of Mexico blocks during their match at the FIVB women's volleyball
world championships in Sapporo,Japan November,3,2006.China win over
Mexico to reach the second round.[Xinhua] |
It took China only 63 minutes to
finish the game with 25-20, 25-10 and 25-12 to gain their third straight win in
the tournament.
Wang Yimei had 16 points to lead China while veterans Yang Hao and Zhou
Suhong added 10 and 9 points respectively.
"There is no weak teams in the world championship," said Chen Zhonghe, head
coach of China. "So I am happy that our players had a good performance today and
I hope they will continue to play well in the next game."
With the win, China climbed to top of Group B and will face another
powerhouse in the group Russia on Saturday, who also remained unbeaten after
defeating Germany 3-1 early on Friday.
China easily took a 8-5 lead shortly into the match, and though Mexico
managed to scrape a few points, the Chinese were never in serious trouble.
The Mexicans did not improve their attack or defense in the following set and
China took the second set with 25-10 and used a 7-0 run in the third to seal the
victory.
Despite the loss, Orlando Samuels, head coach of Mexico, praised his players
for their performance during the game.
"We knew before this match that China is a very strong team and that they
play to a very high level, therefore I do not have any special comments to make
about this match. We will play Dominican Republic tomorrow and we hope we can
get a victory in that game.