Chen Chien-Chen receives for Chinese Taipei against Kazakhstan in Kozani, Greece.
Kozani, Greece, June 18, 2016 - Kazakhstan bounced back after their opening day loss, to shut out Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 28-26) in the Asian derby of FIVB World League Group 3.
The win brings to an end a four-win of streak of Chinese Taipei head-to-head against Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan out-blocked Chinese Taipei 14 stuffs to 4, with Anton Kuznetsov alone getting in half of those. Vitaliy Vorivodin led Kazakhstan with 16 points and Maxim Mamedov added another 13. Wu Tsung-Hsuan also scored 13 for Chinese Taipei.
The match opened with a close fight and Kazakhstan's slight advanatage at the first TTO 8-7. The team remained one step ahead of Chinese Taipei who eventually fought back to score three times in a row for 16-15. Kazakhs take the control once again, scoring three points in a row themselves forcing Chinese Taipei to call a time out. The team kept the lead until, but not without the helpful hand of Chinese Taipei, who made a mistake at the set point for Kazakhstan, allowing them to end it 25-22.
Vorivodin repeated the history of the previous set, taking his team to a 8-7 at TTO. Both teams fought hard, stopping the other from going too far ahead and it wasn't until the end of the set when Kadirkhanov extended the gap to 22-19 with a block. Chinese Taipei chases the score, saving a couple set points of Kazakhs, but Stolnikov spikes to finish the set 25-23.
Chinese Taipei opened the last set with two point lead at 1st TTO (8-6). The team, motivated by being two sets behind, maintained the lead up to 17-12, when their advantage started to melt. A block on Liu Hung-Min forces Chinese Taipei to call a time out as Kazakhstan came close to 22-21. That doesn't pay off when Kazakhs score three more points after the break, having first match point at 24-11. Chinese Taipei fought back and tied 24-24. The match continued point by point until Mamedov ended it at 28-26 with a powerful spike off the block.