Shanghai men¡¯s volleyball players celebrate after winning
the final against host Jiangsu at the 10th National Games in Huaian
yesterday.¡ªXinhua
Shanghai outclassed defending champion Jiangsu in five sets
yesterday in the men's volleyball final at the 10th National Games.
Shanghai,
winners of the domestic league in 2004 and 2005, took the match in one and a
half hours, 26-24, 20-25, 25-17, 17-25, 15-13.
In the bronze-medal game, the
PLA team defeated Shandong 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-13).
Shanghai is
seventh in the medals standing.
In front of boisterous home fans, Jiangsu
took charge in the early stage of each set but always committed errors in
critical moments.
Leading 14-13 in the decisive fifth set, Shanghai converted
match point by courtesy of a service error by Jiangsu veteran Shi
Hairong.
Shi then fell on to the court in disappointment, while Shanghai
players hugged each other in celebration of their hard-earned victory.
On the
track, Shanghai's Yang Yaozu raced to an easy victory in men's 200m in 20.73
seconds in Nanjing.
"I had been training in US for some time just before the
Games which helped me to figure out my faults. I improved on them step by step
and prepared well for the race.
"I was still nervous before the race. I got
used to the atmosphere during the preliminary trials and finally collected the
title as I had wanted," said Yang.
Yang, 24, who had a personal best of 20.58
seconds, was the only Chinese male athlete to enter the second round of Olympics
in men's 200m in Athens last year.
PLA's Wang Chengliang came in second with
Deng Yijun from Hong Kong finishing third.
Elsewhere, rising star Zhou
Haibin's goal got Shandong a 1-0 win over Shanghai and the men's soccer
title.
Playmaker Zhou scored the winning goal in the 71st minute. The shot,
just from outside the penalty box, hit a Shanghai defender's leg and flew into
the right corner of the goal. Goalie Qiu Shengjiong swiftly dived to the right
side but failed to stop the ball.
Both teams went all out in the match which
was almost like a battlefield.
Fierce fighting between players led to a spate
of cards being issued.
But thanks to some solid defending and Qiu's heroics,
Sha-nghai managed to hold back several finely-angled shots.
Despite the rain
and chilly weather, the final attracted far more viewers than any previous
soccer match at the 10th National Games.
Shanghai fielded substitutes Mao
Jianqing and Shen Longyuan in the second half to strengthen the offensive but
the changes didn't bear fruits.
Shanghai coach Doko Kokovic said after the
match that Shandong put up a spirited performance and deserved the
win.
"Shandong has good players and played like a team. It deserved the
victory," said Kokovic.
Shandong coach Yin Tiesheng said the patience and
indomitable spirit of his players helped his team gain the upper hand.
"The
rain had negative influence on our players but they played well all along and
remained calm," said Yin.
In the third place playoff, Liaoning defeated Hubei
2-1.