China will meet Italy in Yokohama for the semi-finals of the ongoing Women's Volleyball World Championship.
The Chinese squad arrived in the host city yesterday afternoon and coach Lang Ping said they spent some time watching Italy's matches to develop their strategy.
The two teams met in the group stage game in which China lost 3-1. But reigning Olympic champions China are not far off the pace and Italy just suffered their first loss of the tournament when they were beaten by Serbia on Tuesday.
In China's loss to Italy, the Europeans' Paola Egonu scored a match-high 29 points and leads the World Championship with an overall score of 182 points. China have shown their talent for comebacks after doing so against the USA and the Netherlands in the third round.
Besides for their captain and main spiker Zhu Ting, there have been impressive performances from Gong Xiangyu, Yuan Xinyue and Li Yingying.
In the 2014 World Championship, China beat Italy in the semi-finals after losing to them in the group stage, so will hope to repeat that feat in Japan.
Zhu Ting (#2), Yuan Xinyue (#1) and Yan Ni (#17) try to block during 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship match against the Netherlands in Nagoya, Japan on October 16. /VCG Photo
China's middle blocker Yuan Xinyue said, “Italy is a strong opponent and they have prominent characteristics, which are big challenges for us. If we can do better in our next encounter, we may win the match, and I hope we can do that.”
Meanwhile, Li Yingying mentioned, “We will be fully prepared for any difficulties we may meet. We will be fully confident before the match.”
In the other side of the bracket, Serbia - who finished top of Pool G - will take on the Netherlands.