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Germany Eliminated at Universiade Men's Volleyball
Defending champions Germany had to pack their luggage early as they were eliminated by Denmark 3-1 in Beijing Sunday in the second round at the World University Games.
Germany, stunned by Slovakia in a Group B preliminary and by Yugoslavia in the second round Saturday, could not break the Dane's blocking, losing at 25-22, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22 in Group J.
The Germans, who was titled in Palma Games two years ago by fielding their national team, could not repeat their fortune with a teams mainly composed of students in Beijing Games.
In another Group J match on Sunday, Yugoslavia saw off Slovakia 3-1 and topped the group with three wins against no loss while the Danes ranked second with two wins against one loss.
Slovakia placed third with one win against two losses as winless Germany fourth in the group.
There are 27 teams grouped into eight in the round-robin preliminary and the top two teams from each group with their first round record will re-divide into four groups, and the top two teams from the four second-round groups fighting for the knock-out quarter-finals.
Group I saw hosts China and pre-favourits Brazil, both have booked the quarter-final berths before the game with two wins, fight for the winners of the group. With an advantage against their opponents in terms of height, the Chinese performed their best volleyball with effective spiking and accurate serving, winning at 28-26, 25-22, 25-14.
With the win, China won the group with three wins against no loss and Brazil placed second with two wins against one loss.
Speaking of the game, the Chinese coach Yang Liqun said "Our team are in a high moral today and they did their best."
"China played better than us today, and secondly our players lost their concentration in the game, " explained Flavio Thiessen, head coach of Brazil.
The best result that the Chinese men's volleyball obtained is runners-up in 1987 Universiade.
In a demonstration match of Group I, Latvia outclassed the Netherlands 19-25, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-23.
United States was fully stretched by the Japanese before winning 17-25, 25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10 while Turkey came from two sets down to overcome Ukraine 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 15-9 in Group K.
Unbeaten Americans won the group and Turkey ranked second with two wins and one loss.
In Group L, favorites Russia beat France 18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21 while South Korea demolished Canada easily at 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 in a one-sided game.
Russia, France and South Korea shared the identical records of two wins against one loss, but Russia and France ranked the top two because they had a better set ratios than South Korea.
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