Eda Erdem Dundar (L top) and Ebrar Karakurt (R top) of Türkiye block during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
PARIS, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye beat China in a five-set thriller here on Tuesday to reach the women's volleyball semi-finals of the Paris Games.
Melissa Teresa Vargas scored 42 points to lead the Turkish women to the victory (23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 21-25, 15-12) in the first quarter-final match Tuesday morning.
It was tied 11-all in the fifth set before a smash of Vargas and a spiking error from Wu Mengjie of China pushed Türkiye up at 13-11. Gong Xiangyu had a smash to pull China within 13-12, but another kill of Vargas and a smart play of Elif Sahin, who replaced injured starting setter Cansu Ozbay in the last three sets, sealed the victory for Turkey.
"Vargas played a great game. We tried our best to stop her, but could not do that well enough," said China head coach Cai Bin.
The Chinese women had a 5-1 surge to take a 22-18 lead late in the first set and held it to 24-20. Türkiye ran off with three points in a row to make it 24-23, but Ilkin Aydin awarded the first set to China with a serving error.
The Turkish side fought back hardly in the second set, jumping to an 8-3 lead and improved to 20-13. China steadily cut it to 22-21, only to find Türkiye wrap up the set with a 3-0 run.
The third set was hotly contested as China erased an early 16-10 deficit to tie it at 24-all. However, Vargas had a kill and Ebrar Karakurt drove a ball out off bounds to secure the set for Türkiye.
In the fourth set, China took advantage of an amazing 13-4 start to clinch the set at 25-21 and force the tiebreak. ■
Players of China react during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Gong Xiangyu (R) of China saves the ball during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Zhu Ting (R) and Wang Yuanyuan of China block during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)
Yuan Xinyue (L top) and Gong Xiangyu (R top) of China block during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Yuan Xinyue (C top) of China spikes the ball during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Wang Yuanyuan (front) of China celebrates after scoring during the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Players of China acknowledge spectators after the women's quarterfinal match of volleyball between China and Türkiye at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)
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