World Grand Prix champions China extended their winning streak to eight at the 2003 women's volleyball World Cup as they crushed Egypt 3-0 on Monday.

The Chinese women, who are bidding to win their first World Cup title in 18 years, remained as the lone leaders at the round-robin tournament with three matches remaining.

World champions Italy, Brazil and the United States stayed close with China after respective victories on Monday. The three teams shared a 7-1 win-loss record while Italy ranked second ahead of Brazil and the United States with better sets ratio.

China took the 25-11, 25-16 and 25-11 victory in just 46 minutes and they rotated the players in action through the match.

"I sent all my players to the court today for the preparation for the next round," said Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe.

China will play the United States, Italy and Japan in the last stage of the competitions which start on Thursday in Osaka.

"Today's match was a nightmare for me," said Egypt's head coach Hesham Badrawey. "We could not do much against the best team in the world."

Zhang Yuehong, who replaced Yang Hao to start for the Chinese team, finished with a game-high 15 points. Zhou Suhong contributed 14 points and Zhang Ping added eight.

Toson Hussein, the only player who could seriously challenge the Chinese defense occasionally, led Egypt with 11 points.

Also in Toyama, Brazil swept past Argentina 25-18, 25-19 and 25- 12 in 56 minutes for their seventh straight victory following an opening loss to China.

"In this competition our condition has been getting better and better, especially after the wins against Cuba and the Dominican Republic," said Brazilian head coach Jorge Guilmaraes.

In Sapporo, Italy came from one set down to beat Turkey 20-25, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20 while the United States eased past Dominican Republic 25-17, 25-22 and 25-21.

In Monday's other actions, Cuba outlasted South Korea 23-25, 25- 18, 18-25, 25-17 and 15-13 for their fifth win from eight matches and Japan beat European champions Poland 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 23- 25 and 15-11.

Twelve teams are competing at the round-robin tournament with top three finishers to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004. The squads will have two days off with the action resuming on Thursday in Osaka.

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