China got the better of Thailand in a semifinal match at the ongoing 5th Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for women taking place in Vietnam's northern Vinh Phuc province on Monday.

Although they had an upper hand in the opening set of the match with the scoreboard read 25-21, the Chinese team failed to continue their offensive attacks and lost the second and third sets with the scores of 23-25 and 18-25 respectively. Thailand displayed a strong defense that gave the Chinese squad a hard time in producing points.

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China, which was on the brink of losing the match, made some adjustments in their strategy during the fourth set and successfully won it with a close 25-21 that forced a game-deciding fifth set, according to China Daily.

China and Thailand fought hard during the do-or-die tie-breaker. In the end, China prevailed with a 15-13 triumph to secure the first ticket to the tournament's championship round.

"Forecasting a tough battle, we had good performance in the match," the Chinese team's coach Chen Youquan said.

China will next face the winning national side between Japan and Kazakhstan for the title while Thailand will play the losing team for the third-place playoff.

The fifth AVC Cup for Women lasts from Sept 14 to 20. It features eight teams divided into Group A (Vietnam, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, and Iran) and Group B (China, South Korea, Japan and Kazakhstan).

According to The Nation, China's Zhang Changning led the winners with 16 points. Li Jing contributed 11 kills, while Zheng Yixin chipped in five points.

Ajcharaporn Kongyot posted a game-high 26 points for Thailand including 24 kills from 61 attempts.

Tagsasian volleyball confederation cup, Rio Olympics 2016, Chinese Women's national volleyball team, zhang changning, Ajcharaporn Kongyot