A dramatic five-set battle unfolded in the other semifinal. The Philippines wasted a two-set lead to let Chinese Taipei level up, but regained control in the tie-breaker to persevere for a 3-2 (25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25, 15-12) victory. The Philippines’ blocking effort proved key to their success, along with abundant unforced errors by the opponents. 22-year-old outside Mhicaela Belen put up four of their 12 kill blocks to lead the team on a total of 15 points. Opposite Alyssa Jae Solomon added another 12 points, while middle blocker Mereophe Aevangeline Sharma chipped in with 10 points, including three blocks and two serving aces. Outside hitter Chen Chieh produced a match-high 19 points for Chinese Taipei, including two blocks. Her cross-court teammate Liu Shuang Ling and 19-year-old opposite Chang Yi-Chi added 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Saturday’s final between Vietnam and the Philippines is scheduled at 20:00 local time (13:00 UTC). The bronze medal game between Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei will serve off at 17:30 (10:30).
Another three classification matches will be played before that. The fifth-place game between Indonesia and Iran will start at 15:00 (08:00). The duel for the seventh place will get Hong Kong and Australia on the court at 12:30 (05:30). Saturday’s program will start at 10:00 (03:00) with the clash for the ninth place between India and Mongolia.
In Friday’s fifth-place semifinals, Indonesia put together a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 25-15) victory over Hong Kong with a match-high 20 points from outside hitter Medi Yoku, while Iran hammered out a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) shutout of Australia.
India beat New Zealand by 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22) for the spot against Mongolia in the ninth-place match. Their 22-year-old opposite Anagha Radhakrishnan impressed with six kill blocks towards a match-high 22 points.
It’s game over for the Kiwis, who managed to win only one match in the tournament and finished bottom of the final standings, in 11th place.
