Volleyball Nations League: Chinese trio earn dream team consolation after loss to Turkey in final
- The Chinese round off their best showing in the tournament despite coming up short against Turkey, who took over as the world’s No 1-ranked side
- Dream team dominated by the two finalists, while the United States are upset again as Poland grab third place
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China’s women’s team lost to Turkey in the Volleyball Nations League final in Texas, but their players made up almost half of the tournament’s dream team after the country’s best ever finish.
Despite their 3-1 defeat in Arlington on Sunday, captain Yuan Xinyue and two of her teammates, outsider hitter Li Yingying and setter Diao Linyu, were named in the seven-player list.
Li led the Chinese effort in the final with 21 points, with Yuan the only other member of the team with double-digit points as she contributed 11.
The pair and Diao were joined in the dream team by tournament MVP Melissa Vargas, Zehra Gunes and Gizem Orge of Turkey, and Poland’s Martyna Lukasik.
Second place represented an improvement on China’s third position in 2018 and 2019, but the country’s volleyball fans were in largely realistic mood after they had turned around some disappointing results in last month’s qualifiers to beat hosts the United States and Poland in the tournament finals.
“A runners-up finish with this squad is rather satisfactory, but we need strengthening in blocking, defence as well as setting up our offence,” a Weibo user wrote.
“We need at least two players like Li [Yingying] to be a better team – they just did not have enough firepower,” another commented.
Some other fans insisted China still needed their star player back, with one arguing that Zhu Ting – nursing a wrist injury after a season playing in Italy – was “on another level, her return can make us a much better team for sure”.
In their first meeting this season at College Park Centre, Turkey and China had split the first two sets.
But the Turkish side began to dominate after that, eventually prevailing 25-22, 22-25, 25-19, 25-16 to record their most significant victory at international level. They had finished second and third in the Nations League in 2018 and 2021 respectively.
The prolific Vargas, new in the Turkey team this year, was again near-unstoppable. The 23-year-old stood up at key moments and led all scorers with 26.
Her captain Eda Erdem and ferocious hitter Ebrar Karakurt each added 12 as Turkey overtook the Americans at the top of the world rankings.
“I just can’t believe it, it doesn’t feel real,” Erdem said. “I’ve been representing my country since 2005 and there’s been so much sacrifice, sadness and joy.
“It’s been a long journey and I think that this year, with [coach] Daniele Santarelli, he made us believe we could be the champions.
“He helped us grow and remember who we are. I’m so proud of my team, we made history and we waited for it for so long.”
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Poland, too, were rewarded with their best finish in the tournament to date after they overcame the US in five sets to take third place.
As for China, they have the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, but before that, also on home soil, is the Olympic qualification tournament in Ningbo from September 16 to 24.
Ranked No 6 in the world, China must finish in the top two to qualify for the 2024 Games. Poland, the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Netherlands, Serbia and Ukraine will be in their way.
That tournament, alongside others in Tokyo and Lodz, Poland, will determine six of the teams who will join hosts France in Paris next year. The five remaining spots will be decided via world rankings next June.
