Germany Begins Title Defence with Win at Universiade VolleyballDefending champions Germany encountered stiff challenge from Switzerland before edging out their opponents 3-1 in the opening match of the men's volleyball competitions at the 21st World University Games opened Wednesday.It was a keenly contested match which saw the two teams fight to a 25-25 tie in the first set before the Germans scored two more points to end the set 27-25. The Germans had to concede the second 22-25 as the Swiss came back strongly with a good blocking. But Germany, who beat Japan to win the title in the final of the last games held in Spain, fought back by taking the next two games 25-22 and 25-14. Hosts China, ranked 11th in the last games two years ago, met no difficulties from Rwanda before scoring an easy game at 25-12, 25-13 and 25-14. Neither could take more than a two-point lead in the beginning of the first set. Drawing at 7-all, the host team, inspired by veteran setter Wang Ye and new talent Hu Song, broke the deadlock and sprinted to an 10-7 lead and never gave up their lead in the set, winning at 25-12. The Chinese maintained the lead in the following two sets with their great hitting and powerful serves, finishing the match with an easy score of 25-13, 25-14. The team of Rwanda is composed of the players from National University of Rwanda, the only national university of the country. The best result that the Chinese men's volleyball obtained is runners-up in 1987 Universiade. Yang said:"The other two teams in our group are not as strong as I expected, so we are feeling more confident to carry out our target to enter top eight." In Group A another match, Latvia met strong resistance from Australia, winning with a score of 25-21, 27-25 and 28-26. In other matches on Wednesday, Slovakia overwhelmed Hong Kong of China 25-12, 25-14 and 25-9, Iran overtook Turkey 25-22, 15-25, 22-25, 30-28 and 15-10, France toppled Chinese Taipei 26-24, 2519 and 25-22, Russia outgunned Peru 25-13, 25-10, 25-14, Mexico subdued Canada 25-18, 25-17, 25-20, United States ejected Portugal 23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-16, Denmark outfoxed South Africa 25-20, 27-25, 25-12, Brazil thumped Lebanon 25-4, 25-21, 25-16. There are 27 men's teams and 15 women's teams have turned out to participate the games. Top two teams from eight men's groups will sail into the top 16 while the top two teams from women's four groups is to enter the quarter-finals. The volleyball competition will finish on August 30. |
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