Pending showdown as Russia and China remain unbeaten
( 2003-07-31 09:31) (www.fivb.ch)
Russia and China charged on in the FIVB $1 million World Grand Prix on
Wednesday both scoring third straight victories, July 30 Matera,
Italy, to put them in the box seat for a last match showdown on Sunday when
this elite annual women's volleyball tournament finishes.
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| Skipper Feng Kung [R] sets a ball for teammate as an
Italian player watches by. China beat Italy 3-1 for a third consecutive
wins in the 6-team final round. [Sina] | Russia, atop the table with China in second on an inferior points ratio,
charged through their match against USA firing on all cylinders to take the 3-1
(25-19, 21-25, 25-21 and 25-17) victory in a style that promoted the USA coach
Toshiaki Yoshida to remark after the match: "Russia played excellently," he
said. "We couldn't touch their spiking. Today we just couldn't get near them."
Meanwhile world champions Italy virtually said goodbye to their chances of a
top finish with a resounding 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20) defeat at the
hands of China. It was Italy's third defeat so far in the final round.
The
Chinese women gained sweet revenge for their 3-1 loss to Italy at the 2002 World
Championship with a 25-22, 23-25, 25-15 and 25-20 victory over the reigning
world champions; the Chinese are also in a good position to win their first
title.
Although the USA, silver medalists to Italy's gold at the 2002 World
Championship, retained their tradition of tenacious fighting, they were
certainly outgunned by the lofty Russians. Ekaterina Gamova was almost
invincible, hammering home 23 points for top match scorer, while USA's Haneef
Tayyiba had one of her best matches of the series, top scoring for the USA with
18 points. Gamova's inimitable captain Euvgenia Artamonova also added 17 spike
points.
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| China's Zhao Ruirui [C] and Zhou Suhong [R] block a
strike during China's 3-1 victory over defending Champions Italy.
[Sina] |
The last match of the day was a spirited encounter between Korean and
Netherlands in which a Dutch renaissance saw them clamber back into the match to
level at 2-sets all to force the tiebreaker then going on to win 3-2 (18-25,
23-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 22-20). The Asians had a strong start with two
convincing opening sets, but the young Netherlands lineup came back like a
hurricane and then helped orchestrate a thrilling tiebreaker that finally fell
their way to conclude the matches in this part of the tournament.
The competition now moves to Andria where matches resume on Aug. 2 with China
vs. Netherlands, Italy playing Russia and USA vs. Korea. On the final day of
this round robin format tournament, Netherlands plays USA, Korea faces Italy and
the final match, which could be a cliffhanger climax, Russia plays China.
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