SHANGLUO, China, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Yunnan defeated Sichuan 3-1 in the women's volleyball preliminaries of the 15th National Games on Thursday, securing its berth for the tournament.

On the final day of Group B qualifiers, the winner between Yunnan and Sichuan claimed a top-five group finish to qualify directly for the National Games.

Sichuan dominated the first set 25-22. The second set saw both teams tied 16 times before Yunnan improved its serve reception stability to take it 25-22.

Yunnan opened the third set with an 8-1 scoring run to win 25-11, then closed the match with a 25-20 fourth-set victory.

Sichuan, which finished sixth in the group, will compete in an April 1-2 playoff for one additional spot. The remaining five Group B teams - Fujian, Jiangsu, Beijing, Yunnan and Zhejiang - have qualified for the National Games.

"Before the game, I have seen many videos of Sichuan player Miao Yiwen. When the other spiker, Yang Jingjin, was forced to have few chances, it threw Miao into a difficult situation," Yunnan head coach Yang Jingmiao told Xinhua.

"When Yang was substituted off, we had three players who tried to stop Miao from scoring, and it worked," he added.

Group leader Fujian defeated Zhejiang 25-16, 25-15, 25-22 on Thursday to finish first with an unbeaten record.

In the final Group B match, reigning Chinese Women's Volleyball Super League champion Jiangsu swept Beijing 3-0 to secure second place. Enditem

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