STORY: China wins women's sitting volleyball World Cup title
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 18, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 19, 2023
LENGTH: 0:01:58
LOCATION: Cairo
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the 2023 World ParaVolley (WPV) Sitting Volleyball World Cup
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): XU HUIMIN, Head coach of the Chinese team
3. various of the 2023 World ParaVolley (WPV) Sitting Volleyball World Cup
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): NICOLE BAN, Head coach of the Canadian team
5. various of the 2023 World ParaVolley (WPV) Sitting Volleyball World Cup

STORYLINE:

China won the women's title at the 2023 World Paravolley (WPV) Sitting Volleyball World Cup with a dramatic 3-1 win (25-23, 25-16, 17-25, 25-20) over Canada in Cairo on Saturday evening.

China narrowly claimed the first set but showed dominance in the second, while Canada staged an impressive comeback and won the third.

Although the Canadians were in the lead in the fourth set, the Chinese gradually turned the tide and ended it in their favor to deservedly earn the trophy.

Chinese head coach Xu Huimin and several players were moved to tears of joy after the last whistle.

Xu described the match as "tough" and "fierce," adding that "claiming the World Cup title gives us strong confidence and faith in the Chinese women's volleyball skills and spirit."

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): XU HUIMIN, Head coach of the Chinese team
"This World Cup is actually a great harvest for us, and we have learned about the overall strength of the world's strong teams. Our victory today doesn't mean we will win in the future. Our ultimate goal is the Paralympic Games in Paris next year."

The tournament in Cairo offers one ticket to the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games for the winner or the highest-placed non-qualified team. As the Chinese women's team has already secured qualification earlier this year, the quota goes to Canada.

Despite Canada's first loss in all seven matches, the Canadians are going home not only with silver but with the only women's ticket to the Paris Paralympics offered by the World Cup in Cairo.

Canada's head coach Nicole Ban said she was very proud of the performance of her squad against the world's best teams, especially China.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): NICOLE BAN, Head coach of the Canadian team
"It is our second time in a final at a major championship. China has the experience over us but we hope that we can come back stronger. I think the Chinese team has always played very good defense; it's really hard to score against them. They move very well on the court and they are fast.

Basic Mirza, an international referee who officiated at the gold medal game, said "it was really good volleyball played at this match. It's worth being the final."

The bronze medal was won by Brazil after its 3-0 triumph over Germany earlier in the day.

Held in Cairo from Nov. 11 to 18, the 2023 WPV Sitting Volleyball World Cup featured 23 teams - 13 teams in the men's competition and ten in the women's.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Cairo.
(XHTV)