China- Belgium 1-3

After our excellent five-setter against Poland, our Red Dragons continued the good run at the Olympic qualification tournament in Xi'An. Against home country China, they put a convincing 1-3 victory on the board: 18-25, 25-22, 19-25, 17-25.

Thanks to the win, Belgium currently shares third place with the Netherlands in its pool. After a rest day, the next game against our northern neighbours is scheduled for Tuesday (at 07:00 Belgian time) precisely.


Full report:

Set 1: 18-25
After the strong performance against Poland, our captain Sam Deroo immediately showed the way to his teammates with a smash, a block and an ace on the line for 1-5. Wout D'Heer quickly took over the torch for 5-9 and a block for 7-11. Ferre Reggers also got up to steam and deepened the bonus with a couple of strong serves: 11-17. Stijn D'Hulst found his Knack mate Pieter Coolman perfectly short behind and he also served Wout D'Heer generously. The name China may literally mean 'The realm of the middle', but that was precisely where the home team's weakness lay in this match: 14-22. Seppe Rotty also did his bit: 18-25.

Set 2: 25-22
For a short while, set 2 also seemed to be heading in the right direction after two local out-smashes: 1-4. But this time the Asians did not give in so easily. With a better service they actually took their first lead at 10-9. After an ace by Coolman on the back line, we took the lead again, but it remained neck-and-neck until 21-22. Seppe Rotty aimed his smash just past the line and little Yu surprised our recession with an ace : 24-22. Immediately afterwards, the Chinese proved they could also build a wall; 25-22 and 1-1 in the sets.

Set 3: 22-25
With lightning-fast and skilful Mathijs Desmet back in place of Seppe Rotty, we quickly took control again in set three. At 5-5, Ferre Reggers launched a heavy offensive with an ace. Stijn D'Hulst got Coolman and D'Heer going again through the middle and that led to as many as seven points difference: 8-15. We couldn't let that go: Sam Deroo took care of 19-25 at the third set point.

Set 4: 17-25
In set four, our white Red Dragons didn't waste any time either. This time Coolman picked up a fine wall for the early run-out to 4-9. Sam Deroo was allowed to indulge 'in the pipe' for 13-19, before also finishing the job with two aces in a row: 17-25.