The ROC’s comeback after 1-2 in sets and -6 in the fourth set put China in an unenviable situation regarding the qualification for the quarterfinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s volleyball tournament.
Who could’ve predicted this?! The Olympic champion is sliding towards the elimination from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s volleyball tournament already after the preliminary stage. In Pool B’s encounter between the two world volleyball giants, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) staged a huge comeback on Day 3 against China after trailing 1-2 in sets and 14-20 in the fourth set. Thus, the team commanded by Lang Ping dropped the key duel for qualification for the quarterfinals, suffering all three defeats in the event. Such a thing didn’t happen to China in the Olympics in 21 years (since Sydney 2000). Given the current situation, if China wants to qualify for the top 8, it must win the last two games – against Italy and Argentina – by a 3-0 or 3-1, but even then, it will depend on other results in the pool.
The 17-year-old Arina Fedorovtseva continued to amaze volleyball fans across the world, continuing where she left off during the club season. She tallied 28 points for the ROC today, having support from Nataliya Goncharova (27 points). Irina Fetisova made 5 blocks. Li Yingying scored 27 points for the Asian side, including 4 aces. Yuan Xinyue set up 4 blocks. Zhu Ting is far from her class. The wrist injury is causing her a lot of problems in Tokyo. Against ‘Zboranya’, she had only 9 % effectiveness in the attack (15/44), committing 11 errors in this segment!
The world champion Serbia achieved the third win without losing a single set and is the only team in the competition with all 3-0 triumphs. Kenya seemed to be too impressed with its rival, even in moments when Zoran Terzić mixed up the lineup, spreading time on the court to all players as much as possible.
The good news for Serbian fans is the return of Brankica Mihajlović, who played for the first time in the tournament, meaning that her back injury is history. She was the top scorer of the match with 17 points, including 4 aces. Sharon Chepchumba notched 12 points for Kenya.
2020 Tokyo Olympics, women’s volleyball tournament – Day 3:
Italy – Argentina 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-15)
South Korea – Dominican Republic 3-2 (25-20,17-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-12)
Serbia – Kenya 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-20)
China – ROC 2-3 (17-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 12-15)
Japan – Brazil, 12:45 p.m. CET
USA – Turkey, 14:45 p.m. CET
