Russia Beat China to Remain Unbeaten at Grand Prix Finals

Home>>Sports

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, August 03, 2002

Russia Beat China to Remain Unbeaten at Grand Prix Finals

Russia battled for a full-set victory against China in Hong Kong on Friday to remain unbeaten at the 2002 women's volleyball World Grand Prix Finals.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Russia Beat China to Remain Unbeaten at Grand Prix Finals

Russia battled for a full-set victory against China here on Friday to remain unbeaten at the 2002 women's volleyball World Grand Prix Finals.

Earlier Friday, Germany snatched a straight-set win over Brazil.

Roared on by the 12,500 capacity crowd at the Hong Kong Coliseum, China started strongly to win the hot-contested first set 25-23.

The towering Russian team, with an average height of 1.89-meter,showed their dominance on the net as they eased to a 25-10 victoryin the second set on high quality spiking and blocking.

The two teams split the next two games, forcing a tiebreaker, won by Russia 15-10. Trailing by 10-9, the Russian women ran off six straight points for the victory.

China coach Chen Zhonghe thought that China lost the match because of their lack of experience.

"Our players are very young and we had ups and downs in the match," Chen said. "You can see that from our different performance in the first four games."

"At the same time, we still lack role players who can pulled usout of danger," he added.

The Russian women, hot favorites to win the title and pick up the 200,000 US dollars prize money, led the four-team round-robin with two victories in two matches.

"The important thing is that our players knew what to do when we trailed 1-0 and 2-1," said Russian coach Nikolai Karpol.

China and Germany had one win against one loss each but China placed second on the standings with better set ratio. Brazil was fourth with two defeats.

The Germans, trounced 3-0 by Russia on Thursday, were happy with the 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 victory.

"We were very glad to be able to play in the Finals," said Germany's South Korean coach Lee Hee Wan. "Now we are much more satisfied because we have won a match in the Finals."

With a 5-4 win-loss record in the preliminaries, Germany surprisingly ousted the Olympic and world title-holders Cuba and defending champions the United States for a place in the four-teamFinals.

Gruen, who played professional volleyball in Italy, led Germanywith 16 attacking points.

Round-robin competitions finish on Saturday as China play Germany and Russia take on Brazil. Top two finishers will vie forthe title on Sunday with the other two fighting for the bronze medal.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China, Russia Winners at Grand Prix Final

China, Russia Refuse to be Favorites Before Grand Prix Final

Saddam: US and Britain are Telling "Harmful Joke" ( 3 Messages)

China Offers New Security Concept at ASEAN Meetings ( 4 Messages)

China's High-tech Development Geared to Marketable Industries ( 2 Messages)

HK Financial Secretary Confirmed Marriage with Chinese Diving Queen ( 2 Messages)

Experts Reject 'China Threat' Theory ( 5 Messages)

Christian Designs Found in Tomb Stones of Eastern Han Dynasty ( 4 Messages)