Brazil claims volleyball World Cup title with perfect record

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 01, 2003

Brazil claims volleyball World Cup title with perfect record

World champions Brazil claimed their first World Cup title in Tokyo on Sunday when they swept Japan to finish the 2003 men's tournament with a perfect record.

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World champions Brazil claimed their first World Cup title in Tokyo on Sunday when they swept Japan to finish the 2003 men's tournament with a perfect record.

With Serbia and Montenegro's 25-18, 21-25, 30-28 and 25-22 victory over Italy earlier on Sunday handing the championship to them, Brazil eased past the hosts 25-17, 25-20 and 25-16 for their11th straight victory at the round-robin tournament.

The Brazilian players dived to the floor to celebrate the well-deserved victory after Rodrigo Santana smashed home the match winner.

Italy and Serbia and Montenegro shared a 9-2 win-loss record while the European champions settled for the silver medal due to superior set ratio. The top three finishers all qualified for the2004 Athens Olympics.

Roared on by more than 10,000 tirelessly chanting home fans, Japan battled with high spirit through the match, but the World League title-holders proved too much for them.

The Japanese managed a 6-4 lead in the second set and stayed within 17-15, but could not hold on.

After three straight wins at the start of the 12-team tournament, Japan lost eight in a row to settle for the ninth place.

China beat Tunisia 3-1 for their second victory and a tenth finish at the World Cup.

Tang Miao and Hu Song scored 22 and 20 points respectively to help the Chinese snap their six-match losing streak with the 25-17,24-26, 27-25, 31-29 win.

"We have learned a lot from this World Cup," said Chinese head coach Di An'he. "The experience we got here will help us prepare for the Olympic qualifying tournament next May."

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