(Beijing, April 16) The "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 China Club Volleyball Tournament opened at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium on April 16, with Bayi team outplaying Tianjin 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-23) in the women's preliminaries.

Bayi took the initiative by leading 5-1. With outstanding blocking techniques Tianjin narrowed the deficit to 2 by the first time-out. Bayi then launched more attacks to lead 12-7. Tianjin came from behind to tie the score at 14-14. Bayi added two more points to lead 16-14 before extending its superiority with 22-15. With some substitutes playing for the rest of the time Bayi finished the first set 25-19.

Leading 8-5 into the second set, Tianjin gained the upper hand with 14-8. However, Bayi managed to tie the score at 16 all and then led 23-20 before taking the set 25-23.

The two sides seemed well matched at the beginning of the third set, with Bayi leading 8-7 by the first time-out. With absolute superiority Bayi continued to lead 16-10 and 23-13 to secure the win.

The match ended 25-19 in favor of Bayi.

Talking about the loss, Tianjin's coach Wang Baoquan said, "We had an intensified training before the tournament, and it led to some injuries, including two of the starters."

"The young players were in high spirits but the lack of veterans affected our stability in the game," Wang added.

Bayi also had several national team players absent in the match and fielded many youngsters for the tournament. "The improvement of the young players is very important as it could both bestir their senior teammates and benefit the development of the team," Bayi's team captain Song Nina said.

Commenting on the new competition ball adopted by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), Bayi's coach Zhang Di noted, "The ball is beautiful and I think it could highly increase the attractiveness of the game."