VNL Roundup: Top contender China loses in 2021 Women s VNL second round
27 May 2021, 13:05 GMT+10
RIMINI, Italy, May 26 (Xinhua) Reigning Olympic champion China suffered its first defeat of the tournament after losing 3-0 (13-25, 19-25, 17-25) to Japan in the second round of the 2021 Women s Volleyball Nations League. China sent a substitute squad for Wednesday s match which did not include Zhu Ting, Ding Xia, and other core players. Ishikawa and Kurogo scored 18 and 17 points respectively for Japan while China s Liu Yanhan and Wang Yuanyuan grabbed 16 points together. At the beginning of the first set, both sides traded the lead until 5-5. Ishikawa and Kurogo with repeated fast breaks helped Japan to a 15-13 lead. After that, China could not shake off the passive situation, then let Japan scored 10 in a row to win the first set.