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BRASILIA, June 12 (Xinhua) — China secured their first victory of the men’s 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on Sunday by overcoming hosts and defending champions Brazil 25-23, 31-29, 25-23.
Outside hitter Zhang Jingyin led the scoring with 25 points, including 22 kills, two aces and one block, while Zhang Guanhua contributed nine points and Li Yongzhen seven points.
“This is a big victory for our team, it’s very encouraging,” outside hitter Yuan Dangyi said. “We entered the match determined to do our best but we knew Brazil were the No. 1 team in the world and very strong opponents.”
He added: “I think today we played better and that’s why we won. Each of us was focused on our own roles and that was very important. We’d love to play Brazil again because they’re so strong.”
Brazil’s top scorer was Alan Souza with 19 points, followed by Flavio Resende (13 points) and Lucas Staatkamp (12 points).
The result at the Nilson Nelson Arena in Brazil’s capital marked China’s first win in the competition since 2019 and saw Poland displace Brazil at the top of the world rankings.
China’s opponents in the next cluster of matches — from June 22 to 26 — will be France, Germany, Argentina and Italy while Brazil will face Poland, Serbia, Iran and Bulgaria.
In Sunday’s other fixtures, Poland beat France 3-1, Japan routed Iran 3-0, Italy overcame Argentina 3-1, the Netherlands thrashed Australia 3-0 and Canada defeated Bulgaria 3-2.
The games form part of the VNL preliminary round. The top seven teams will contest the finals in Bologna, Italy, from July 20 to 24.
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