Authorized by the International Volleyball Federation, jointly hosted by the Sports Bureau and Volleyball Association of Macao, China, and sponsored by the Galaxy Entertainment Group, the “2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix in Macao presented by Macao Galaxy Entertainment Group” was held at the Macau Forum from 14 to 16 July. In the first two matches, Italy won against China and the U.S. consecutively. Italy then won against Turkey in merely three rounds in the final match. Italy was crowned the champion in Macao by winning all three matches. The finale “China-US Fight” lasted five rounds. As Macao fans cheered for the national team in excitement, the national team turned the tide and won against the U.S. by the ratio 3:2, and became the runner-up. The U.S. and Turkey were in third and fourth place respectively.
After winning against China in the first match, Italy then beat the U.S. by 3:2. In the last match against Turkey, Italy won against Turkey in only three rounds, by 25:13, 25:20, and 25:14 respectively. Italy won the champion in Macao by winning all three consecutive matches.
China's Women's National Volleyball Team Became the Runner-up
Although Italy had become the best team, the atmosphere of the finale “China-U.S. fight” was equally intense. China's Women's National Volleyball Team Executive Coach An Jiajie, sent Zhu Ting, partnering with Yuan Xinyue, Gao Yi, Gong Xiangyu, Ding Xia and Li Jing in the first round. They could not grasp the opportunity and lost against the U.S. by 27:25 in the first round. In the second round, Zhu Ting attacked at a key moment, helping the national team turn the tide by 25:23, and the national team caught up with the U.S. by 1:1 in terms of the winning matches. In the third round, China continued to fight in pursuit of another victory, and won by 25:21. However, after gaining some advantages over its opponent, China fell behind again carelessly in the fourth round despite leading by 4 points earlier. In the decisive fifth round, China's Women's National Volleyball Team did their utmost, and won again by 15:11. With the ratio of winning matches 3:2, China won against the U.S. and became the runner-up.
As for the individual awards, Ofelia Malinov, who led the Italian team to win the champion, was elected the MVP of the event. Her teammate Egonu was awarded as the best assistant player. Yuan Xinyue from China was awarded as the best block player. Carli Lloyd and her teammate Kingdon were elected the best setter and the best spiker respectively; Zhu Ting, who was well supported by the fans, was awarded the title “The Star of Galaxy Entertainment - My Favorite Player”.