The Chinese women's national volleyball team swept their Japanese opponents 3-0 in the first match of the Tokyo Olympic test event in Tokyo on Saturday.

This was the first international appearance of the Chinese national team in 580 days. The last time that China played a formal women's volleyball game happened in their 3-0 victory over Argentina in the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Cup in Japan in 2019.

The last time China and Japan met also took place in the World Cup. This time the match took place at Ariake Arena which will also be used for women's volleyball tournament during the Tokyo Games.

The test event is a key drill opportunity for both China and Japan. Coach Lang Ping sent Zhu Ting, Zhang Changning, Yan Ni, Yuan Xinyue, Gong Xiangyu, Ding Xia and Wang Mengjie.

China did not meet much challenge in the first two sets. Zhu's serves made it hard for Japan to launch quality offense and gave China better chances to set up solid defense. China won two sets easily 25-16 and 25-18.

Both sides adjusted the squad in the third set and Japan enhanced their offense, leading from 5-4 to 24-22. Zhu and Gong saved China from four straight game points in the following competition until the score reached 29-29. Wang Yuanyuan got the last two points for China, winning the opener of the test event.