TWO-TIME defending Olympic champion Brazil and reigning world champion USA got off to winning start Saturday at the Rio Games women’s volleyball competitions while China lost to the Netherlands in a five-set thriller.

    The Netherlands pulled off the first upset of Day 1 by beating medal favorite and third-ranked China in five sets, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-13.

    When the upset was in, the Dutch jumped and hugged. Netherlands outside hitter Celeste Plak lifted one staff member into the air in a celebratory embrace.

    Despite the surprising loss, China head coach Lang Ping thought it was good learning experience for the young team.

    “It’s the first match of the Olympic Games and our young players were a little bit nervous. For such a young team like us, it’s normal to have some ups and downs,” said Lang.

    Zhu Ting led China with 24 points and 19-year-old Gong Xiangyu added 18, but some errors of the promising opposite spiker cost the Chinese women the victory.

    “As an Olympic new comer, she played pretty well in the first four sets. In the fifth set, she made some unforced errors, but it’s understandable. She is so young, she needs some more experience,” Lang said.

    (SD-Xinhua)