Serbia and China on collision course for women’s Olympic glory

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 18, 2016 – Serbia and China will vie Saturday for the ultimate sporting title, gold at the Olympic Games, after both scored impressive, thrilling and very intense wins in Thursday’s women’s semifinals at Rio 2016.China, the FIVB World Cup holders, return to an Olympic Games final for the first time since they beat Russia in Athens 2004, following a remarkably close 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 29-27, 25-23) over European championship silver medallists (but nonetheless outsiders at Rio 2016) Netherlands Thursday night at the Maracanazinho.Outside hitter Zhu Ting was the driving force behind China’s win over a plucky Dutch side, scoring a tournament high of 33 points and joining the elite few in Olympic history who have brought in more than 30 in a single match.Earlier in the morning Serbia had caused one of the biggest upsets in Olympic volleyball history, knocking out reigning world champions USA 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13) in the other semifinal. The Balkan side became the first European team since Russia in Athens 2004 to qualify to an Olympic final.Saturday’s final begins at 22:15. Earlier, at 13:00, USA will take on The Netherlands for bronze.Summary Statistics – Women’s Tournament Rio 2016Highest Scorer by Day30 – Kim Yeon Koung of Korea v Japan on August 622 – Paola Egonu of Italy v China on August 822 – Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia v Korea on August 822 – Nataliya Gonncharova of Russia v Korea on August 820 – Zhu Ting of China v Puerto Rico on August 1025 – Christelle Tchoudjang of Cameroon v Argentina on August 1223 – Zhu Ting of China v United States on August 1428 – Zhu Ting of China v Brazil on August 1633 – Zhu Ting of China v Netherlands on August 18Top Scoring Performances33 – Zhu Ting of China v …

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