Taipei, Chinese Taipei, September 20, 2008 --- Japan Netted a surprise win over defending champion China in a five-set exciting encounter in the big match of the first day at the the 14th Asian Junior Women Volleyball Championship held in Taipei's T.U.C. Hall while host Chinese Taipei also clinched their first win over Kazakhstan. In the other match, Korea beat Sri Lanka in straight sets, team India and Indonesia defeated their rivals New Zealand and Australia respectively in tiebreakers..

In the first match of the day, India was extended into five sets to beat New Zealand 3-0 (25-21, 19-25, 25-23,18-25, 15-8), Sri Lanka lost to Korea in straight sets 8-25, 13-25, 12-25, Japan edged China 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 16-26, 25-21, 15-7), Indonesia outclassed Australia 25-11, 25-7, 25-9 and Chinese Taipei downed Kazakhstan3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-12).

The Asian Junior Women Volleyball Championship is drawing a total of 11 teams, which are pooled into two groups for the preliminary round. Host Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Australia and Indonesia will play against each other in Group A while defending Champion China, runner-up of last edition Japan, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand and Korea are in Group B.

The duel between the Asian two top two women junior team turned out to be a contest with many ups and downs. Team Japan, who are smaller in size, overcame a 1-2 deficit to brush aside China, in five sets. The Japanese started out brilliantly in the first set, but lost their tempo in the next two sets; yet with their sturdy defense and gradually efficacious blocking, team Japan came back in the fourth set and got the chance to fight in the fifth. China's first passing was weakened by the forceful jump serving of Japan's Minemura Saki, therefore Chinese girls were unable to bring the score-guaranteeing quick spike into full play. In the end, Japan successfully finished the match 25-19, 22-25,16-25, 25-21, 15-7.

"Team China's overall skill and height are actually better than my team," said Japan head coach Aihara Noboru. "And my team was spiritually down in the second and the third sets. However, my girls managed to lift their spirits in the last two sets, and then we won the match.”

Host Chinese Taipei, who win the bronze medal at the last Asian Women Junior Championship in Thailand in 2006, put up an excellent performance, winning huge applauses from the crowd. In the last match of the day after the opening ceremony, the match between Chinese Taipei and team Kazakhstan ended with the host girls crushing down the taller Kazakhstanis in straight sets 25-10, 25-15, 25-12. Cheered by local spectators, the host team exhibited their formidable jump serving and spiking.

"My team performed about 60% of their skill today," said Chinese Taipei's head coach Sakakuchi Norimasa, when asked about the team's performance. "It's these players' first time to play in this tournament, and most of them are inexperienced. Besides, being the host team and competing in their own country, they are inevitably stressed."

Captain of Chinese Taipei, No.1 Chen Wan Ting, also confessed her feeling of pressure. "What we did today was not bad; though there were errors, I think we will adjust our performance as the game proceeds."

Match No.1 in the first day involving team India and New Zealand turned out to be a 5-set match at the very beginning of the tournament. Led by the hard-spiking Captain, V. Soumya and M.K Deepthi, team India claimed the first set 25-21. However, thanks to the powerful serving and strong blocking, New Zealand regained confidence and took the second set 25:19. The third and the fourth set ended very much the same as the first two sets, with each team taking one set. In the fifth set, team India proved themselves strong enough to overtake the opponents, winning the match 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-8.

Following up in the second match of day 1, team Sri Lanka enjoyed no luck while team Korea stormed through the match with their fierce serving and spiking. Though team Sri Lanka strove very hard, team Korea proved to be too strong to beat. Apart from their stronger figure, the combination ofthe combination of different attacking formation also contributed to the Korean victory; within an hour, they gained the match 25-8, 25-13, 25-12.

Continuing in the fourth match of the day, Indonesia took over Australia in another five sets. Though physically shorter, with the tallest player in the court marking only 175 cm, the Indonesians endeavored through the match and secured the victory with five sets 25-15, 26-28, 25-22, 22-25, 16-14.

On Sunday, Thailand will meet Australia while Chinese Taipei take on Indonesia in Pool A. In pool B, Japan will encounter Korea, China meet New Zealand and Sri Lanka take on India respectively.

Saturday results:

Pool A:

Indonesia beat Australia 3-0 (25-11, 25-7, 25-9)

Chinese Taipei beat Kazakhstan (25-10, 25-15, 25-12)

Pool B:

India beat New Zealand 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-8)

Korea beat Sri Lanka 3-0 (25-8, 25-13, 25-12)

Japan beat China 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 16-25, 25-21, 15-7)