Yang lead China to sweep S. Korea at Grand Prix final round

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Yang lead China to sweep S. Korea at Grand Prix final round

Yang Hao had 17 kills Tuesday evening to lead China to a clean sweep of SouthKorea in the final round of the 2003 women's volleyball World Grand Prix tournament.

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Yang Hao had 17 kills Tuesday evening to lead China to a clean sweep of SouthKorea in the final round of the 2003 women's volleyball World Grand Prix tournament.

China, 3-0 winners over the United States on Monday, delivered South Korea 25-17, 25-14 and 25-23 in one hour and nine minutes for their second win in a row in the six-team round-robin final round.

"We displayed our advantage in serving, blocking and attacking," said the joyful Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe. "It seems that they (South Korea) were not in top form today."

South Korea, who lost to China 3-0 in the preliminaries, got itclose early in the match but China ran off six straight points from a 19-17 lead to take the first set.

The second set was more easier for China as Yang Hao smashed eight kills to lift China to the victory.

The South Koreans managed a 23-22 lead in the third set as China put some of their starters on the bench. But Yang Hao smashed home a ball to level it 23-23 before Zhao Ruirui stuffed two South Korean attacks in a row to secure the victory for China.

"Yao Hao played a solid game today," Chen said. "Her performance is quite stable during the tournament."

Chinese ace spiker Chu Jinling celebrated her 19th birthday with eight points and Zhao Ruirui also added eight for China, who converted on 51 percent of their attack opportunities.

China will face the reigning world champions Italy on Wednesday.

"The match against Italy will be a great challenge for us," Chen said. "They are the world champions and they play at home, wewill just try our best."

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