China beats Netherlands to claim bronze at Volleyball World Championship

YOKOHAMA, Japan - China claimed bronze at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship after beating the Netherlands here in straight sets on Saturday.

It was a rather lopsided game, with the Chinese Olympic champions dominating most of the time. The match finished with a scoreline of 25-22, 25-19, 25-14.

The first set was a bit tight, with the two sides trading the lead. After an 18-18 tie, Li Yingying's kills put China ahead 22-19, but three straight points by Anne Buijs leveled the score for the Netherlands. After that, Li and Zhu Ting's spikes got China the set point, and China won the set 25-22 on an ace by Li.

The second set saw China play with more active attacks and solid defense. The Dutch almost leveled the score at 11-12, but China managed to enlarge the margin and settled home 25-19.

In the third set, after a 5-5 tie, China scored seven straight points to lead 12-5, and the Netherlands failed to turn the tide and lost 25-14.

18-year-old Li Yingying scored a match-high 20 points, while Yuan Xinyue, Gong Xiangyu and Zhu Ting also scored in double figures. Lonneke Sloetjes led the Netherlands with 15 points.

"It has been a long journey and it finally ended. I want to thank the fans, the organizers of the tournament and the staff working here, thank you all," said China coach Lang Ping after the match.

"We have achieved a lot here and the biggest gain was that by playing against strong teams, we gathered experiences. We could also feel the development of the world's volleyball level," she added.

China won two titles at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in 1982 and 1986 respectively. It was the first time that the Chinese team won a bronze medal at the tournament that was held every four years.