Unbeaten pair China and Japan enter final eight
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-09-06 09:27

TAICANG, East China, September 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Asian powerhouse Japan smashed South Korea 3-1 in a Group B match here on Monday to remain one of the two teams unbeaten in the Asian Women's Volleyball Championship.

China also beat Kazakhstan to enter the quarter-final with a perfect five wins in the Group A.

The Japanese women marched on toward their fifth win in the tournament with 16-25, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-22 victory

Going down tamely in the first set 16-25, Japan fought back strongly in the second and third set to make it 2-1.

South Korea tried to save the match and lead 6-3 in the fourth set, but Japan steadily pulled away to tie at 12-all

The Japanese women held on steadily to 24-22. Chie Yoshizawa hit home the match point for Japan to seal the victory 25-22.

Japan, listed No.1 in the Group B, will face Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the quarter-final on Tuesday, while South Korea will meet Thailand who beat Philippines 3-0 early on Monday.

It took the World Cup and Olympic dual champion China 70 minutes to conclude the last match in the Group A with 25-20, 25-12 and 25-18.

Both teams, who had four victories in hands before the match, had already booked the berth for the final eight.

Xeniya Dontsova led the Kazakhstan team with seven points while Yelena Pavlova scored six, Natalya Rykova had five points.

China took the overall charge from the opening of the match and finished the first set 25-20.

Roared on by Chu Jingling and Wang Yimei, China soon pulled away to 11-5 in the second set and never looked dangerous and concluded the match with 25-12 in the second set and 25-18 in the third.

Chu led the game with 16 points including five aces and Liu Yanan added 11.

China, who won all the Asian titles since 1987, will face Vietnam on Tuesday in the quarter-final, the latter was beaten by Chinese Taipei 0-3 early on Monday to list fourth in the other group and Kazakhstan will clash with Chinese Taipei.

Monday also featured a match of Australia upseting India 3-1, but both teams were disqualified from the final eight.

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