Brief Recap of the 2012/2013 edition of the Chinese League.

WOMEN

Despite the strong performances of Kasia Skowronska (POL) and Carolina Costagrande (ITA), Evergrande failed to defend its Chinese League crown against Tianjin’s Bohai Bank.

Best of 3 Final Round

Match 1: Evergrande Guangdong 1-3 Bohai Bank Tianjin (25-20,24-26,28-30,22-25)
Match 2: Bohai Bank Tianjin 3-2 Evergrande Guangdong (23-25,25-17,12-25,25-22,15-12)

“I am very happy to recapture the championship after overcoming many difficulties and we are going to continue our efforts to maintain our good form. The two foreign players of Evergrande are really world VIP level players with very strong attacking abilities. We cannot find such excellent spikers in China. Our players should learn from them.” says Tianjin’s coach Wang Baoquan.

“Tianjin is a strong team. My team was not able to match them in some key abilities, especially in receiving, and we were not as strong as our opponents.” according to Evergrande’s coach Lang Ping.

MEN

Canada’s Freddie Winters and Steve Brinkman together with Cuban Salvador Hidalgo led BAIC Motors Beijing to its first ever men’s championship crown. The foreign players were too much to handle for Bayi (Army) especially in the last 2 matches.

Best of 3 Final Round

Match 1: Beijing 2-3 Army (19-25,27-25,25-13,24-26,9-15)
Match 2: Army 0-3 Beijing (16-25,20-25,27-29)
Match 3: Army 0-3 Beijing (21-25,27-29,18-25)

“The jump serving by Salvador is so strong and fast that no Chinese player can match it. ” says Army’s coach Li Haiyun.

“The Army is a really strong team but we were full of confidence to beat them. Now our dream is realized and I am very happy and enjoying the victory.” per Beijing’s Hidalgo.