KUNSHAN, China, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Host China edged Japan 20-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-22 and 17-15 in the men's volleyball World League and top the group with a 3-0 win-loss record here on Sunday night, the last weekend of the preliminary round.
But China, ranked fifth with 15 points in the Group Two, couldn't manage to enter the finals of the World League only one point short to the fourth ranked Japan.
"I am happy to please my hometown crow here with three wins in Kunshan, but a little pity that we could not go to the Australia for the finals," said Zhong Weijun, captain of the Chinese team.
Top scorer Jiang Chuan again contributed 24 points for China, while Ji Daoshuai and Chen Longhai added 13 and 10 respectively. Japan's ishikawa Yuki had a game-high 26 points and Yanagida Masahiro 15.
Tied at 2-2, Japan led 8-6 into the fifth set and advance into the 14-8, but China then launched a 9-1 run to claw the victory back to claimed the game.
"I am happy about the last part of the game, which China won the game," commented Raul Lozano, headcoach of China, "After we fall behind at 8-14 in the fifth set, the players on court played with their maximum attention, and I think the Japan's players didn't play well at that time. I am happy about that, the players showed what they learned in the daily trainings." Enditem
