Brazil rally to beat China, advance to Men's Volleyball Nations League Finals semifinals

Host team China lost to fourth-ranked Brazil 3-1 in the quarterfinals, as the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Finals opened serve in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Wednesday.

A single-elimination format has been introduced for this year's VNL Finals, and China joined the top seven teams from the preliminary round in the fight for the title.

Brazil, one of the championship favorites, finished the preliminary phase with an 11-1 record and had previously swept China 3-0 in the Chicago leg in June.

The Chinese side got off to a strong start, overcoming an early deficit in the first set to prevail 31-29. Key contributions came from Wen Zihua, Yu Yuantai, and Li Yongzhen, with the hosts registering six blocks – while Brazil did not record any.

"I'm more than satisfied, I mean I am proud of the team," China coach Vital Heynen said. "At the beginning of the VNL, we could not defend, but today we were amazing. I've never seen them fighting like today."

China led 17-14 in the second set, but then conceded nine consecutive points. Despite calling two timeouts, the team was unable to turn the tables, dropping the frame 25-19.

The Brazilians dominated the third set 25-16, and then wrapped things up in the fourth, pulling away late to close out the contest 25-21. Alan Souza scored a match-high 26 points for Brazil, while Wen Zihua led China with 15.

"The only problem is we don't know how to win," Heynen admitted. "I see big steps forward, but we have to be very fair that Brazil is many steps in front of us. That is clear, but I go out of the VNL with a very nice feeling. We were fighting and that was the most important. Sport is about giving everything. My guys were giving everything. That's what I want!"

Looking ahead to the World Championship, which gets underway in the Philippines on September 12, Heynen remained optimistic: "We have another seven weeks to get better, and then we'll see. If we play like this [today] and we lose, I have no problem with anything, because this is the way we have to play."

Earlier in the day, Italy defeated Cuba 3-1 to advance to the semifinals. France will face Slovenia while Japan take on Poland in the other two quarterfinals on Thursday.