A Teary Evergrande Finale

Tianjin Bridgestone came from a 0-2 deficit to WIN the 2010/2011 Chinese League Title against Coach Jenny Lang Ping’s squad.

The #1 ranked Guangdong Evergrande rallied to win the first 2 sets but fell apart when the Tianjin squad started to play a better game in sets 3 and 4 and eventually won the tiebreak (10-15). Logan Serbian opposte, Jovana Brakocevic, fired 20 points & American Logan Tom scored 16 points for Evergrande but their efforts were not enough to win the tiebreak match against Tijanjin led by Yuan Zhou (21 pts) and Liyi Chen (18 pts).

Result: Guangdong Evergrande – Tianjin Bridgestone 2-3 (25-12, 25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 10-15).

To WATCH the FULL MATCH via Internet Explorer, click THIS & THIS.

The Tianjin squad has won 8 titles in the last 9 years. Pretty Impressive.

A teary Feng Kun was interviewed by the media and could hardly explain her frustration. As far as we know, Feng has not won the Chinese League despite her success with China in the international scene, ie 2004 Olympic Gold.

Evergrande’s 2 foreign players, Logan and Jovana, could not hide their sadness despite a great season. With Jenny Lang Ping’s guidance, we must say that Jovana has improved a lot since we last saw her at the World Championship. She’s playing with more confidence and has displayed stability & reliability as an opposite player. As for Logan, Logan is Logan.

Individual Awards:

Best Coach – LIU Xiaoming (Tianjin Bridgestone)
Most Popular Player – WEI Qiuyue (Tianjin Bridgestone)
Best Attacker – ZHANG Xiaoting (Tianjin Bridgestone)
Best Blocker – YANG Zhou (Zhejiang Kaiyuan Tourism)
Best Server – MA Yunwen (Shanghai Dunlop)

Despite losing the title, Jenny, Logan and Jovana spent the night away with a great dinner and smiles. As you can see on the pic below…

We’ve read that Logan has been offered to stay in China while Jenny will most likely continue coaching for Evergrande. Wherever these ladies play next season, we wish them the best!

Congrats to the winners and to all the teams this season who played great matches and entertained thousands of volleyball fans!

Cheers!

(images: cfp.cn & Logan Tom)

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Match #2: Logan’s Team Bounced Back!

It wasn’t an easy match but we’re glad they won!

After losing the first match, Logan Tom and Team Evergrande won an epic 5-set match against #2 ranked Tianjin. Whoever wins on Sunday (April 3),  will be crowned as 2010/2011 Chinese League Champions.

It’s a do or die match for both teams. Exciting!

To WATCH the FULL MATCH, click THIS.

Result: Guangdong Evergrande – Tianjin Bridgestone 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 13-25, 25-20, 15-12).

Stats: Brakocevic 25, Zhou Yuan 18, Tom 15, Yin Meng 10; Yin Na 19, Chen Liyi 18, Zhang Xiaoting 17, Huo Jing 12.

We wish both teams the best this Sunday!

(images: Logan Tom)