PARIS: European champions Turkey reached the semi-finals of the Olympic women's volleyball for the first time when they beat China 3-2 on Tuesday in a see-saw encounter that went down to the wire.
The contest was a rematch of last year's Volleyball Nations League final where Turkey beat China to claim their first title and the end result was once again the same despite injuries on the Turkish team.
Cuban born Melissa Vargas was Turkey's lynchpin with a whopping 42 points that included 38 kills as they prevailed 23-25 25-21 26-24 21-25 15-12.
Vargas, who was named the most valuable player at the European Championship last year, fell two points shy of equalling Croatian Barbara Jelic's record for most points in an Olympic match (44).
"Today we played with our hearts. We have a lot of injuries and I am so proud of my players. We put everything on the line to reach the semi-finals," Turkey's Italian coach Daniele Santarelli said.
"We didn't play amazing volleyball. We have a lot of limits but anything can happen; we're going to the semi-finals."
Turkey will play either top-ranked side Italy or Serbia in the last four.
China were gold medallists in 2016 and outside hitter Zhu Ting said the Paris Games could be her last Olympics.
"I will cherish every match and every opportunity to touch the ball. If I get injured again, these touches could be the last of my career. That's why I value it so much," the 29-year-old said.
Brazil beat the Dominican Republic in straight sets to seal their place in the semi-finals where they will face either the United States or Poland.
"We didn't know what to expect because we knew they are a good team. Their attacking is really good," Brazil's Julia Bergmann said after their 25-22 25-13 25-17 victory.
"But we played focused, we played every ball like it was the last one – that was the difference between our team and their team. The result is that we won 3-0, so it was really good."-- Reuters