Joining the two teams in the top eight are the Women's Volleyball Team of the Peoples Republic of Korea (PRK), Tianjin Bridgestone of China, Zhetyssu of Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Iran’s Zobahan and Vietnam’s VTV Binh Dien. The tournament’s winners will progress to the FIVB World Club Championships in Doha, Qatar from December 14-21, joining the likes of Bergamo of Italy and Prisons of Kenya who have already qualified POOL A JT Marvelous of Japan and PRK Korea both collected seven points from three wins and one loss after beating their rivals on the fifth day of the pool round. However the Japanese finished top of the pool with a better points percentage. Chinese Taipei finished third with six points followed by Zobahan with five. Host Petrokimia Gresik finished last. JT Marvelous of Japan seized a straight sets victory (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) over Chinese Taipei to qualify for the quarterfinals. The opening set was a closely fought one, as neither team were able to secure a considerable margin. Ai Inden and Chiemi Chiba were the usual scoring leaders on the Japanese side, while team captain Teng Yen Min sparked Chinese Taipei’s offense. JT Marvelous held on tight in the closing plays of the first set and succeeded. In the second set, Chinese Taipei lack of defense was evident, unlike their Japanese counterparts, who were on top of nearly every attack. Japan’s excellent floor defense gave them the opportunity to execute their plays well, and to snatch the second set win. Chinese Taipei tried to initiate a scoring run in the third set but the Japanese team maintained their momentum and secured victory in the match. JT Marvelous completed the preliminary round with four wins in four outings, while Chinese Taipei charted two wins and two losses. PRK needed only 54 minutes to claim victory against hosts Petrokimia Gresik of Indonesia. PRK’s straight sets win (25-10, 25-12, 25-14) marks their third out of four matches for the preliminary round. Jong Jin Sim took top scoring honors for PRK with a contribution of 22 points. The Indonesians, on the other hand, suffered from poor defense with even their tall players failing to block off PRK’s attacks. Not even Amalia Fajrina Nabila’s scoring efforts could inspire the rest of Petrokimia Gresik to halt PRK’s march to victory. POOL B Federbrau of Thailand who had a bye on the last day of the preliminary round, tops the pool with a perfect record. Zhetyssu of Kazakhstan raked up their third win by defeating KT&G Ariels 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-13) to finish second with seven points from three wins and one defeat. The Koreans put up a good fight against the Kazakhs in the opening with good defense, But Zhetyssu had other things in mind, and anchored most of its offense on Olga Drobyshevskaya, enabling them to take the initial set. KT&G Ariels, tried to fight back and came close to stealing the second set, until a costly service error allowed the Kazakhs to pull away. By the third set, the Koreans seem to have lost the drive to orchestrate their offense. Their poor defense also did not help as Zhetyssu came away with the win in straight sets. Tianjin Bridgestone China easily defeated VTV Binh Dien Vietnam in three sets (25-9, 25-20, 25-9) helping them to place third in Pool B with five points from two wins and two losses. Huo Jing did much of the scoring for the Chinese side that helped take them to an easy first set win. VTV Binh Dien stepped up in the second set and was able to take the lead over the Chinese. The Vietnamese were playing better defense and were even getting their blocking into rhythm. But the Chinese side came back with even stronger attacks that simply broke down the Vietnamese’ defensive stance. By the third set, Vietnam reverted to their first-set demeanor and failed to defend against a scoring rampage set by China’s Zhang Xiaoyu and Zhang Xiaoting. Tianjin Bridgestone split their preliminary round outings with two wins and two losses. Pool rankings: Pool A: 1. JT Marvelous (JPN) 7 points, 2. PRK 7 pts, 3. Taipei 6 pts, 4. Zobahan (IRI), 5. Petrokimia Gresik (INA) 5 pts Pool B: 1. Federbrau (THA) 8 points, 2. Zhetyssu (KAZ) 7 pts, 3. Tianjin Bridgestone (CHN) 6 pts, 4. VTV Binh Dien (VIE) 5 pts, 5. KT&G Ariels (KOR) 4 pts Day Five Results Pool A JT Marvelous (JPN) bt Chinese Taipei (TPE) 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) Woman Volleyball Team (PRK) bt Petrokimia Gresik (INA) 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-14) Pool B Tianjin Bridgestone (CHN) bt VTV Binh Dien (VIE) 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-9) Zhetyssu (KAZ) bt KT&G Ariels (KOR) 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-13) Quarterfinals matches: JT Marvelous (JPN) v VTV Binh Dien (VIE) Federbrau (THA) v Zobahan (IRI) Woman Volleyball Team (PRK) v Tianjin Bridgestone (CHN) Zhetyssu (KAZ) v Chinese Taiper (TPE) Petrokimia Gresik (INA) will face off with KT&G Ariels in an earlier match for 9th place and 10th place. |
