China beat Poland 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) - duration 1:09
02-Sep, start time: 20:00, end time: 21:09 - Attendance: 2,550 China keeps pole position
China secured a place in the second round of the 2002 Women's World Championship after blowing Poland of the court here in Leipzig,. Germany. The title favorite took the straight sets victory in just more than one hour and due to the Chinese victory, Brazil and Greece will go with China to the Top Twelve. Although China led 4-0 in the first set, Poland managed to draw equal at 4-4 after taking their first time out. Poland took the lead at 6-5, however the Chinese team always stayed close behind and kept up with Poland at 11-11. Competitive rallies followed, putting one team in front and then the other. By their clever tactics, the Chinese finally grasped the set at 25-20. After a hard-fighting start, China went into the first technical time out at 8-6 in the second set. Chinese attacker Ruirui Zhao scored crucial points in order to widen the gap between the two teams. However, Poland did refuse to give up. Finally, China won 25-19. China gained clear advantage already at the first technical time out 8-1 of the third set. Poland was never able to close the gap. China deservedly took the set at 25-18. Yanan Liu (18 points) and Ruirui Zhao (17 points) played a great match. They were the leading scorers in a match in which coach Zhonghe Chen used all his 12 players.
