Volleyball - China rally to claim third straight title

Olympic champions China dropped their first set of the women's volleyball competition, but dug deep to beat Japan 3-1 at Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall and win a third successive Asian Games title.

The two sides had met only last month in the fifth place playoff at the World Championships in Japan, a match that China won 3-0 and it appeared that defeat could be avenged when the Japanese came firing out of the blocks in the final.

Japan, bronze medallists at the last four Games, led 5-1 and 8-2 in the opening set and while China fought back as the set progressed, it was the Japanese who became the first team to take a set off the champions at Doha 2006.

However the loss of this set succeeded only in firing up the Chinese women, who have now won six of the last seven gold medals at the Games - Korea's win in 1994 the exception, and they rattled through the second set in just 18 minutes.

The third set was a much closer affair, although China again came good when it mattered most - much to the delight of their extremely vocal flag-waving supporters among the crowd - move 2-1 ahead.

With victory in their sights, the fourth set was more straightforward for China as they established a 15-9 lead and held off Japan's spirited attempts to claw their way to level terms to seal victory in one hour and 28 minutes - 22-25, 25-10, 25-23, 25-19.

Yang Hao led the way with 21 points for China, two more than Wang Yimei - who had gone into the final as China's most potent weapon on 71 points with 47 spikes, 10 block and 14 service aces.

Japan's top scorer was Miyuki Takahashi with 14 - two more than Sachiko Sugiyama, Saori Kimura and Shuka Oyama. Takahashi had been Japan's key player in the tournament, scoring 71 points going into the final.

The bronze medal went to Chinese Taipei - their first ever medal in women's volleyball at the Asian Games - after they beat Thailand 25-23, 25-21, 25-14 in just over an hour with Lin Chun Yi top-scoring with 17 points.

Both teams started strongly with many lead changes in the first set, Chinese Taipei regaining their composure at the end to take it after allowing Thailand back into it with some service errors.

In the second set, Lin Chun Yi's thunderous side attack and Lin Ching I's rapid middle spike were simply too much for Thailand to handle, while in the third Chinese Taipei led from start to finish.

Chinese Taipei captain Chen Shu Li said afterwards: "We were very nervous initially. We prepared for this match and we really wished to win this match. That is why we made so many service errors in the beginning.

"Our goal was to win third place in the Asian Games and we achieved it. We were confident to win against Thailand and we made it."

Thailand coach Suttichai Chanbunchee added: "We have done a good job on the first set, but there was more pressure on the second and the third set. All of the players did not play well enough, they were afraid to lose.

"Everyone was expected to do well today and because of their over-expectation, it made us too stressed to play well today. We were deeply hoping that we will win. Although we ended up in fourth place, we are satisfied on a certain level."

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006