Dominican Republic
In Friday’s semifinals, China overcame Japan in straight sets 27-25, 26-24, 25-13 after watching the Dominican Republic defeating United States also in consecutive frames 25-21, 25-21, 27-25. Liu Yanhan topped the scoring charts of China with 18 points, including three blocks, while Wang Qi and Yang Zhou charted 12 and 11 points, respectively.
“Even though we won the game, the Japanese team had a better technique,” China’s coach Xu Jiande said. “I think our players are taller than the Japanese players and that was a key factor.”
”“We started playing very well, but the Chinese team just waited for us and played very calmed,” Japan’s coach Shigekazu Okubo stated.
Brayelin Martinez led the Dominican Republic with 21 points, followed by Yonkaira Peña who tallied 11 points. McNeal Sha’Dare and Gina Mancuso finished with 12 and 11 points for USA.
“These are very young girls but also very disciplined and with a lot of experience in age-group competitionsT,” Dominican Republic’s coach Marcos Kwiek said.
“It was a hard fight,” USA’s coach Karch Kiraly commented. “It is good for both teams. They played a great game. Especially they came out very strong to start with.”
In the matches for the 5-8 positions, Turkey demolished Germany 25-13, 25-13, 25-19, while Italy downed Brazil 25-13, 26-24, 25-22.
Early Saturday, Turkey and Italy will play for the fifth position while Brazil and Germany have to settle to battle for the seventh place.
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