Kiwis fight back as top Chinese side dominates

Top Chinese club side Sichaun have drawn first blood in their four test series against the New Zealand men's side, although there were enough good signs late in the match to give captain Tame Malcolm hope they can compete.
New Zealand struggled early against the businesslike Chinese, getting thumped 25-15 in the first set before rallying to narrowly lose the second 28-26. But they discovered some rhythm in the third set, closing it out 25-18, before falling off the pace again in the fourth, losing 25-17.
Malcolm, a former star alongside twin brother Tute for Rotorua's Western Heights High School, said winning the opening test on one full training session against one of China's powerhouse sides was always a big ask. "They look as if they've been training 10 hours a day, which they have, and we looked like we'd only just got together, in those first two sets at least.
"A few of the guys have had the chance to play top overseas teams like this but it's once in a blue moon stuff for most of us who are holding down fulltime jobs, or with families to look after."
Sichuan were well served by outstanding setter Jiang Fu Dong, a Beijng Olympian, although they had the luxury of sitting out their other Olympic hitter Jiang Kun for the entire match.
Boosted by a crowd-pleasing ritual of a full court run-around whenever they snagged a point, Sichuan capitalised on the error-ridden Kiwis misfiring front court in the first set, although the low-key New Zealanders began to emerge from their shells in the second set.
By the third set most of the kinks were ironed out and, led by the athleticism and power of Sam Tuivai and some great scrambling from libero Rhys van Stipriaani, New Zealand were back in it. But the comeback was momentary as Sichuan called on their towers of power, Zhang Yo Bo and Qin Song, to close it out.
Malcolm said it was tough to find a crack in the clinical Chinese. "They know exactly where they're hitting to every time and even when they serve they're picking us out and thinking a play or two ahead."
The team move to Hamilton for the second test tonight, with the third and fourth tests in Auckland. Malcolm said eliminating mistakes would be crucial. "We'll be better for tonight and if we can make half the mistakes we made then we'll go close. In one set alone we lost 14 points on service errors so we can definitely do a lot better on our side of the court."
In last night's curtainraiser, Tauranga's national champion women's team beat the United States-bound New Zealand junior women's team 17-25 26-24 22-25 25-16 15-5.