China suffered a heavy defeat on the opening day of the World Volleyball Championship.

China failed to create any surprises on the opening day of the 2025 Men's Volleyball World Championship, when they had to face a very strong Brazil on the evening of September 14.

China (red shirt) only caused a surprise in the first game - Photo: FIVB

Unlike in women's volleyball, China is considered quite underrated in men's volleyball. Although still a power in Asia, China was placed in the bottom seeding group of the World Championship.

Before entering the tournament, China was ranked 26th in the world, 23 places below Brazil. Their 1-3 defeat in the opening match of Group H was quite understandable.

However, Chinese fans still have the right to feel regretful, because coach Vital Heynen's students actually played very well against Brazil.

China caused a shock by winning the first set 25-19. That was also the set where the South American players showed signs of complacency, constantly making mistakes in the first pass, and hitting out whenever they had the chance.

In the second game, China still played well, and only lost by a narrow score of 23-25 ​​to Brazil. They gradually lost from the third game onwards. In the third and fourth games, China lost 22-25 and 21-25 respectively.

Winning a game against a team ranked 23 places above them helped China lose only a symbolic 0.01 point in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) rankings.

As for the World Cup, this defeat does not deprive China of the chance to continue. They are in Group H with Brazil, Serbia and Czech Republic.

The big surprise came in the previous match of Group H, when Czech Republic unexpectedly beat Serbia 3-0. Since winning the Olympic gold medal in 2000, Serbia has always been considered a volleyball powerhouse.

This result shows that the quality of Group H is very even, and China still hopes to win a ticket to the next round when they show that their level is not too far behind the strongest team in the group.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trung-quoc-thua-dam-trong-ngay-ra-quan-giai-bong-chuyen-the-gioi-20250914221932186.htm