On June 6, Beijing time, the 2023 World Men's Volleyball League in Nagoya, Japan, kicked off, and the Chinese men's volleyball team and the Bulgarian men's volleyball team involving relegation pressure ushered in their debuts, and finally after five hard battles, they defeated their opponents 3-2 to gain the opener, with the specific scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-9.
In terms of world ranking, the Chinese team is 25th, Bulgaria is 23rd, and the strength of the two sides is not much different. In the first three meetings, China won 2-1, winning two matches 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-17) in 2019 and 3-1 in 2022 (26-28, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17), losing 2-3 (18-25, 25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 11-25) in 2018, this is the fourth meeting between the two sides.
The starting players of the Chinese men's volleyball team in this match are as follows:
Main attack: Zhang Jingyin, Yu Yuantai
Sub-attack: Li Yongzhen, Peng Shikun
Received: Egawa
Second setter: Wang Hebin
Free man: Qu Zongshuai
In the first game, Peng Shikun scored 2 consecutive points with an attack, Li Yongzhen blocked the net and scored, Bulgaria smashed the ball to send points, and the Chinese team led the opening game 4-0. Jiang Chuan and Li Yongzhen continued to make efforts, and the Chinese team continued to dominate 7-3. Bulgaria frantically rallied to 7-8, Zhang Jingyin and Jiang Chuan teamed up to help the Chinese team stabilize the situation to 14-13, after 17-15, Yu Yuantai's serve caused the opponent's mistake, and with Zhang Jingyin's big attack and blocking, the Chinese team opened the gap again 23-18. Wang Hebin served and scored, and the Chinese team won the set point 24-18, and after Bulgaria saved the game point, the Chinese team still took a 25-20 lead.
The Chinese team started the second game well, leading 1-0, 5-4, 10-8, but at this time Bulgaria began to attack and achieved an 18-14 comeback, although Zhang Jingyin scored two consecutive points to help the Chinese team chase 17-19, but the opponent still won the game 25-21.
In the third game, the Chinese team led the opening 3-1, Li Yongzhen fastballed, Peng Shikun blocked the net and made three powers, and when the Chinese team led to 10-8, Bulgaria fought hard to serve and disrupted the rhythm of the Chinese team, and soon achieved a comeback at 16-13 and forced the Chinese team to call a timeout. Back on the court, Zhang Jingyin hit consecutive key goals, and the Chinese team chased 19 draws. Yu Yuantai handled the ball to score, Bulgaria touched the net to send points, Jiang Chuan served to help the Chinese team win the game point 24-21, there was no suspense in this game, 25-21 China won another game, the aggregate score was 2-1.
In the fourth game, Jiang Chuan and Yu Yuantai blocked the net and scored, Yu Yuantai hit the probe, Jiang Chuan made a sharp dunk after the second shot, Zhang Jingyin blocked the net and made a quick effort, and the Chinese team continued the lead from 3-1 to 9-5. After Bulgaria focused on the defense of Jiangchuan, it suddenly set off an offensive climax, and the two sides fought to a 10-point draw. The Chinese team made a substitution to make it 15-16, but then played more and more chaotic on the field, and finally lost the game 20-25, and the two sides drew 2-2 on aggregate.
In the tiebreaker, Wang Dongchen blocked the net and Zhang Jingyin scored a heavy dunk, and the Chinese team started with a 2-0 lead. Bulgaria scored two consecutive points and scored with a quick ball, and the opponent smashed the ball out of bounds, giving China a 4-2 lead. Zhang Jingyin scored three consecutive points, and the Chinese team opened the gap 7-4. The Chinese team made consecutive mistakes, and Bulgaria chased 7-9. The two sides served each other to give each other's points, Zhang Jingyin dunked hard, and the Chinese team widened the point gap 12-8. The opponent served the ball and sent points, Wang Dongchen issued an ACE, the Chinese team won the match point 14-9, Li Yongzhen blocked the net, and the Chinese team sealed the victory 15-9, thus winning the World League with an aggregate score of 3-2.
In the next game, the Chinese men's volleyball team will challenge the European champion Serbia, the Olympic champion France, and the Asian bitter host Iran, and the Chinese men's volleyball team must be prepared for difficulties and learn more from the Chinese women's volleyball team.
Zhang Jingyin: 28 points (21 of 36 deductions, 4 turnovers, 2 blocked, 5 blocked and 2 shots)
Yu Yuantai: 15 points (18 deductions, 11 errors, 1 blocked, 2 blocks and 2 shots)
Li Yongzhen: 10 points (7 of 10 deductions, 0 turnovers, 1 blocked, 2 blocks and 1 shot)
Egawa: 10 points (10 of 23 deductions, 1 turnover, 6 blocked)
Peng Shikun: 7 points (7 deductions, 5 of 0 errors, 0 blocked, 1 block, 1 shot)
Wang Dongchen: 4 points (3 deductions, 1 turnover, 0 blocked, 2 blocked and 1 shot)
Wang Hebin: 2 points (3 deductions, 1 of 0 turnovers, 0 blocks, 1 shot)