Players of China celebrate during women's volleyball final between China and Thailand at the 18th Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Lili)
JAKARTA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China beat Thailand 25-19, 25-17 and 25-13 to claim the gold medal of the women's volleyball competition in the Asian Games here on Saturday.
China started with spikers Zhu Ting and Liu Xiaotong, blockers Yuan Xinyue and Yan Ni, opposite Gong Xiangyu, setter Dingxia and libero Lin Li, the same lineup against Japan the previous day.
Thailand got off to a flying start, leading 8-6 by the first technical timeout. China managed to level the score 9-9 with a block by Yan Ni, and later turned the tide 14-12 with four straight points. After that, China kept the lead to take the set 25-19.
The second set saw China in better form, opening with a 5-0 lead and enlarging the margin to 8-4 with a powerful spike by Zhu Ting. As young spiker Li Yingying kept scoring in position four, China kept the dominance till the end of the set and won 25-17.
In the third set, the desperate Thais put their acts together and led initially. After a 7-7 tie, the Chinese Olympic champions took back control and Zhu Ting sealed the victory for China 25-13.
China's star spiker Zhu Ting top scored with 26 points, followed by young spiker Li Yingying with 12 points and opposite Gong Xiangyu with 11 points. None of the Thai players scored double digits.
