JAKARTA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese women's volleyball team clinched its third victory at the Asian Games here after sweeping defending champions South Korea 25-21, 25-16, 25-16 on Thursday.
The match has attracted much attention following the Chinese Olympic champions' unexpected loss to South Korea in May in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
South Korea led the first set initially, entering the first technical timeout 8-7. But thanks to Zhu Ting's powerful spikes, the Chinese team turned the tide to enter the second technical timeout 16-14, and after that, boosted offense to win 25-21.
In the second set, the Chinese continued the momentum and led 12-10, before the South Koreans led by star spiker Kim Yeonkoung evened the score 13-13. But after that, China again managed to expand the gap and with two strings of straight points, won the set 25-16.
In the third set, the desperate South Koreans came back fiercely and led 5-2. After a timeout called by China, the Chinese team had some adjustment but failed to stop the opponents who further expanded the margin 13-10.
After that, China coach Lang Ping made three replacements which turned out effective, and seven straight points turned the tide for China and helped China win 25-16.
China's Zhu Ting got 18 points to lead the game, including 14 spikes, 3 blocks and 1 serve. Yuan Xinyue and Liu Xiaotong also scored double digits.
South Korea had two players scoring in double figures led by team captain Kim Yeonkoung.
With three victories in a row, China hold the first place in Asian Games Group B composing of China, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and India.
