OSAKA, Japan, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- China hammered Thailand in straight sets here Sunday to rank third in the eight teams of Pool F in the second round of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.
The scores of the three sets were 28-26, 25-20, 25-23, respectively.
Star spiker Zhu Ting scored 20 points to lead the game. China's Gong Xiangyu and Yuan Xinyue also scored in double figures. Thailand have four players who scored in double digits.
"Thailand had been in good form at the World Championship here, and played a great game against the United States and Russia," said China coach Lang Ping after the game.
"So we prepared hard for the match today and were able to fend off Thailand's attacks. I'm happy for my team and hope they will do better in later games," said Lang.
China and Thailand previously had 20 encounters at world-level championships, with China winning 18 of them, including hammering Thailand in straight sets in the 2002 tournament.
But the match on Sunday was not an easy one for China, with Thailand leading initially. China entered the second technical timeout trailing 13-16, but managed to turn the tide 23-19 with kills from Zhu Ting and Gong Xiangyu. The resilient Thailand pulled back to a 26-26 tie, and China only sealed the victory 28-26 with two key smashes by Gong Xiangyu.
China were in better form in the second set and took the lead for most of the time to win 25-20 with an error from their opponents.
In the third set, Thailand fought back even harder and were tied with China 18-18, before China settled the game 25-23 with a spike by Gong Xiangyu.
Also in Pool F, Russia hammered Turkey in straight sets, the United Sates defeated Bulgaria 3-0, while Italy trounced Azerbaijan 3-0.
Both with six wins, Italy and the Untied States were ranked first and second in Pool F, followed by China and Russia, each with five wins and one loss.
Thailand and Turkey took the fifth and sixth place each with three wins and three losses, while Azerbaijan and Bulgaria were at the bottom of the pool.
In the Pool E matches held in Nagoya on Sunday, Serbia beat Mexico 3-0, Germany edged Brazil 3-2, the Netherlands trounced Puerto Rico 3-0, while host Japan had a narrow 3-2 win over the Dominican Republic.
Serbia and the Netherlands, each with six wins, now led Pool E, followed by host Japan with five wins and one loss. Brazil and Germany both had four wins and two losses.
The 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship kicked off on Sept. 29. During the first round of the tournament that ran through Oct. 4, the 24 participating teams played in four groups and the top four teams of each group advanced to the second round.
The 16 teams in the second round play in two pools and the top three teams of each pool will advance to the third round.
