China books opening win at Volleyball Women's World Championship

SAPPORO, Japan -- China hammered Cuba in straight sets here Saturday at their opening match for the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.

The match was a rather lopsided one, with the Chinese Olympic champions taking dominance for most of the time, ending the three sets 25-12, 25-23 and 25-14, respectively.

Star spiker Zhu Ting and blocker Yuan Xinyue got 16 points respectively to lead the game. Cuba also has two players who scored in double figures.

China opened the first set with a 3-0 lead and enlarged the margin to win 25-12 with a direct kill by Zeng Chunlei.

The Cubans managed to give China more troubles in the second set. Despite China's initial lead 18-13, the Cubans cut the margin to 19-17, and China won a narrow set 25-23.

In the third set, the Cubans failed again to turn the tide, and Yuan Xinyue's spike sealed the victory for China 25-14.

China will play Turkey in their second Group B game here on Sunday.

In two other Group B matches on Saturday, Italy outclassed Bulgaria 3-0, with star blocker Paolo Egonu top-scoring with 17 points, and Turkey beat Canada 3-0.

In Group A games in Yokohama, host Japan had a comfortable victory over Argentina with Sarina Koga bagging 15 points, while Cameroon won for the first time ever at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship after a 3-1 victory over Mexico.

Also in Group A, the Netherlands edged Germany 3-1 in a tough game with 22-year-old Lonneke Sloetjes scoring a sensational 36 points, including 33 spikes.

In the Group C matches held in Kobe, reigning champions the United States had a narrow victory over a powerful Azerbaijan, winning in straight sets 29-27, 25-21, 25-21.

In two other Group C matches, Russia defeated in straight sets Trinidad and Tobago which played in the Women's World Championship for the first time, and Thailand edged South Korea 3-2 after losing the first set.

In the Group D matches held in Hamamatsu, Brazil had a tough start against Puerto Rico, but after winning the first set 27-25, the Brazilians sailed to victory with little threat from their opponents, winning the second and third sets 25-12, 25-7.

Also in Group D, Serbia and Kenya beat Dominican Republic and Kazakhstan, respectively.

The 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship kicked off on Saturday. During the tournament that runs through Oct. 20, 24 teams from five continents have been scheduled to compete in 103 matches.

The teams play in four groups, with six in each group, in the first round and the top four teams of each group will advance to the second round.