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Ningbo, Southeast China, May 28, 2005 - World number one China came from one set down to beat world number five Cuba 3-1 (25-27, 25-20, 25-22, 25-17) in the final of the Shenzhou Cup China International Women's Volleyball Tournament here on Saturday. Dominican Republic finished third after a 3-1 victory over Bulgaria.

Wang Yimei, 17 and 1.90m high, and Yang Hao scored 21 points apiece to lead the hosts to their fifth straight win at the seven-team tournament. The 18-year-old Ma Yunwen added 12 points.

"We played well today, especially in blocking and attack organization," said China’s head coach Chen Zhonghe. "Wang Yimei and Yang Hao, our two side spikers, were in great form. Cuba did not play to their best standard today and they lost concentration late in the match, but I believe they will always be our foes in future years."

"Wang played very well," said Cuba head coach Luis Aldern. "She is a promising star in the Chinese squad."
Pic: Ma Yuwen(No.15) and Feng Kun try to Cuba's Yumilka Ruiz
Cuba started strongly against the Olympic and World Cup champions, jumping to a 7-2 lead in the opening set. The Chinese women pulled within 10-8, thanks to consecutive blocks by Ma Yunwen. The two teams exchanged runs before tying at 24-all. A long service by Aimi Ramirez gave China a 25-24 advantage before Nancy Carrillo had a dink and a kill in a row to help Cuba overtake the lead at 26-25. Then Wang Yimei drove a ball out to surrender the set.

Roared on by 8,000 home fans, China fought back in the second set. Wang Yimei had three kills, one block and an ace to lead a 10-4 run that pushed China ahead to 21-16, a gap that Cuba could never close. In the third set, the Chinese women used a 6-2 run to go ahead 24-19. The Cuban women, who lost to China 3-2 in the semi-finals of the Athens Olympics, became anxious and made more errors in the fourth set. China raced to a comfortable 16-9 lead and never looked back.

The Dominican Republic beat Bulgaria 3-1 here Saturday afternoon to win the bronze medal. Coming off a 3-2 loss to Cuba in the semi-finals Friday evening, the Dominican Republic took the first set 25-17 easily as the Bulgarians only managed to convert five of their attacking opportunities. Trailing 6-0 in the second set, Bulgaria started to get their offence going. Pulling back to 13-all, Radosveta Teneva had a kill and blocked Vargas Valdez twice in a row to help Bulgaria pull one set back at 27-25.

Bulgaria was on the verge of overtaking the lead 2-1 when it built a 24-21 advantage late in the third set. However, the Dominican Republic withstood four set points on the back of terrific blocking to tie it at 27-all. Burgos Herrera tore open three Bulgarians on the net for a kill that gave the Dominican Republic the advantage and then blocked Teneva to finish the set at 29-27. Almost the same thing happened in the fourth set, when it was tied at 23-all in the fourth set, but Bulgaria faded again. Rondon Martinez concluded the match with a smash.

Japan rallied from a two set deficit to beat Poland 3-2 (15-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 16-14) to finish fifth while the Netherlands placed the last in the seven participating teams.