Hosts China demolish Iraq in ruthless Asian Championship debut

The hosts of the 2026 AVC Women's Volleyball Asian Championship, continental powerhouse China showed no mercy of Iraq and started their campaign in Tianjin with a breathtaking three-set victory on Saturday.

Pushed by their fans, the Chinese allowed their opponents only 16 points in the entire match, taking a strong first step to compete for the spot at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the three berths at the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Cup that will be awarded in the tournament.

• Watch the AVC Women's Volleyball Asian Championship on VBTV

The Chinese sent a strong lineup to the court in their debut and pushed from the start, producing an emphatic 3-0 (25-4, 25-6, 25-6) victory to start their campaign in Pool A.

Star outside hitter Zhuang Yushan was China's leading scorer in the match, producing 13 points (eight kills, four aces, one block), one more than opposite Tang Xin, who registered nine kills, two blocks and one ace.

"This was the first step in our journey to achieve our goal," Zhuang said. "This match will help us achieve our best form, and we hope we can show more in every match."

Middle blocker Doreem Shamow was the only Iraqi player to score more than one point - she got six, all in kills.

Indonesia sweep Kazakhstan

In Pool B, Indonesia also got their campaign started with a straight-set victory, overcoming Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23).

Opposite Arsela Purnama (18 points) and outside hitters Ersandrina Devega (15) and Mediol Yuki (13) all got to double digits in scoring on the Indonesian side, while opposite Tatyana Nikitina (10) was the only one to do the same for Kazakhstan.

Korea were the sixth team to start winning in Tianjin - they topped Vietnam 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17) and opened their account in Pool C by taking all three points.

Captain Kang Sowhi led the Korean victory with 20 points (15 kills, three blocks, two aces), while star opposite Thi Thanh Thuy Tran scored 18 (all in kills) for Vietnam.

AVC Women's Volleyball Asian Championship: schedule and results

The second round of pool play matches begins on Sunday, when Kazakhstan and Australia meet at 10:00 local time (2:00 UTC) in Pool B, Chinese Taipei and Iraq clash at 14:00 (6:00 UTC) in Pool A, and Japan and Korea battle at 18:30 (10:30 UTC) in Pool C.

The three pool winners, the three pool runners-up and the two best third-placed teams advance to the elimination rounds, which will feature the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches.

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