Ruse, Bulgaria, September 13, 2018 – The Netherlands achieved its first win at the 2018 FIVB World Championship after 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 25 ) against China in the opening match for today in Pool B. Gido Vermeulen’s players were amazing near the net and made 16 blocks which led them to a remarkable win. This is a third victory for the Dutch against the Asians in the history of this major volleyball event.
China started the match really well and took early 3-point advantage (8-5). Despite the tough first minutes of the opening set the Europeans managed to come back and to won it by 25-21. Nimir Abdel-Aziz and Gijs Jorna led the Dutch by scoring 6 points each.
In the second set Gido Vermeulen’s players stuck on the same game plan – tactical float serve and huge block. Thijs Ter Horst amazed with a monster single block, Jasper Diefenbach did the same and the Europeans were 4 points ahead (14-10). Another huge block by Thijs Ter Horst and a perfect spike from the middle by Jasper Diefenbach made it 18-10. A few minutes later, Thomas Koelewijn made two huge blocks in a row and the Netherlands were 2 sets ahead after 25-13.
The battle in the third set was equal but after another great block by Diefenbach, the Hollands were 2 points ahead by 18-16. China managed to come back with an ace by the captain Daoshuai Ji. On the other hand, the Europeans started to make some unforced errors and after another one by Nimir Abdel-Aziz, the Asians won the set by 25-23.
Despite the end of the third set, the Netherlands started on the best way possible the next one and took 8-point advantage by 17-9. Until the end Gido Vermeulen’s players did a great job in all aspects of the game and won the match after 25-13.
Nimir Abdel-Aziz topped the list of the scorers with 22 points for the winners. Thijs Ter Hors added 19. For China Chuan Jiang finished with 20.