Defending champion China upset by Turkey in Tokyo 2020 women's volleyball opener

Ebrar Karakurt (2nd, R) of Turkey competes during the women's volleyball preliminary round match between China and Turkey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, July 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- China's women's volleyball team opened their defense of Olympic title with a shock straight-sets defeat to Turkey on Sunday.

Jenny Lang Ping's side were outclassed 25-21, 25-14 and 25-14 at the Ariake Arena.

Turkey's Ebrar Karakurt grabbed a game-high 18 points, and Eda Erdem Dundar added 13. Zhang Changning was China's top scorer with 13 points, while China's captain Zhu Ting was substituted twice and only scored four points in a disappointing performance.

"We were really ready [to defend against Zhu] when she was attacking us, we took almost all the ball when she attacked us," said Cansu Ozbay, Zhu's former teammate at Turkey's VakifBank Sports Club.

Said China's Zhang Changning, "We didn't play our normal game today. Everyone feels very regretful. I hope we can adjust our mentality and play better in the next game."

China may take heart from the fact that their victorious Rio 2016 campaign also began with a defeat, with the team going down to the Netherlands in five sets. Notably, that Dutch side was coached by current Turkey head coach Giovanni Guidetti.