The Chinese national women's volleyball team was frustrated by Japan 3-1 in the opener of the Montreux Volley Masters 2019 on Monday.
China is drawn in Pool A with Japan, Germany and Poland.
Without star players like Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue, the young Chinese team was led by 19-year-old spiker Li Yingying, who helped Bohai Bank Tianjin to win the Asian Women's Club Volleyball title earlier this month.
Although Li scored game-high 25 points, the Chinese young girls were outperformed by a more experienced Japanese squad, losing their first match in the new season 25-20, 17-25, 27-25, 25-21.
In Pool B, Turkey defeated hosts Switzerland 3-1 and Thailand fended off Italy 3-1.
The Montreux Masters will continue on Tuesday when China face Germany, Switerland play against Thailand and Poland challenge Japan.
