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China Wins Four-Nation Women's Volleyball Tourney
China Wins Four-Nation Women's Volleyball Tourney
The newly-reshuffled Chinese team scored full marks in its first test as they beat Olympic champions Cuba to claim the title of the four- nation women's volleyball tournament Tuesday in Taicang, Jiangsu Province.
Inspired by a partisan 3,000 sold-out crowd, China stormed to a 25-17, 25-13, 19-25, 25-21 triumph over Cuba, winning all three matches in the three-day tournament.
China flexed their muscle in blocking and was impressive in serving, while the Cuban team became liable to faults, only a shadow of its former self which swept eight world titles under their credit.
But Chen Zhonghe, the Chinese head coach, played down the title performance, thinking that the Cuban team failed to perform true to its level.
China Wins Four-Nation Women's Volleyball Tourney
"Powerful attacking is the main feature of the Cuban team. Today they failed to do well in this department, " said Chen.
"But they are still a top team in the world. This result does not represent that China has been one nudge above Cuba," he stressed.
Cuban coach Luis Felipe Calderon also seemed not to have thought much of the result, claiming that the most important thing is to participate.
"We still have chances. Next time we will give better performances," he said.
"And I feel happy about China's progress, because it will also push us to make progress," he said.
Earlier, Japan beat Australia 25-15, 25-14, 25-22 to finish third in the tournament.
The tournament will move on to the second and last stop in Song Jiang, suburb of Shanghai on Thursday.
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