Brazil, Cuba & Poland hold finals
tickets after Round Four
 Lausanne,
Switzerland, June 19, 2005 – With the
winner’s of each of the three pools in
the 2005 World League Intercontinental
Round joining hosts Serbia and
Montenegro in the four-team Final Round,
defending champions Brazil, world number
16 Cuba and European heavyweights Poland
are in pole position in their respective
groups in the race for qualifying for
the finals, following the completion of
Round Four on Sunday.
Brazil, with star players Giba and
Gustavo making their first World League
appearance of the year, won the battle
of the Pool A leaders with 3-1 (26-24,
25-23, 20-25, 25-18) and 3-0 (25-21,
25-20, 25-23) victories over Portugal as
the world number played at home for the
first time with more than 19,000 fans
turning out in support for each match.
Pic: Tight at the top - Cuba split
their matches with Bulgaria in Pool B
"We played much better (in the second
match) than in the first but the team
still made errors,” Brazil captain
Ricardo said. “We need more
concentration to minimize these mistakes."
Brazil now lead Pool A with seven wins
and one defeat with Portugal second with
a 5-3 record while Venezuela, who did
the double over winless Japan 3-0
(25-22, 25-18, 25-20) and 3-0 (25-21,
25-21, 25-21) in Tokyo, stay in
contention in third spot with four wins
and four defeats.
In Pool B, despite a shock defeat at the
hands of Bulgaria in Havana on Friday,
Cuba still top the group just ahead of
Italy on set ratio difference with both
sides boasting a 5-3 record. Cuba lost
the first match 3-1 (25-22, 19-25,
25-20, 25-22) before winning the second
3-2 (27-25, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-9).
Meanwhile, Italy did the double over
France in what were two impressive
victories on away soil. The 3-2 (19-25,
18-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-13) and 3-2
(21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 15-13)
victories saw Italy show great
determination and discipline to join
Cuba with a 5-3 record. Bulgaria have
now moved into third place ahead of
France only on set ratio difference as
both sides now have a 3-5 record.
In Pool C, Poland suffered only their
second defeat of the competition losing
their second match to Greece in Athens
3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 26-24, 25-16) on
Sunday. However, their first victory on
Friday (3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 18-25,
15-13)) moved them to 6-2 and has given
them a handy two-win cushion over their
opponents. Greece (4-4) are second ahead
of
Serbia and Montenegro (4-4), who
welcomed back key players Ivan Miljkovic,
Andrija Geric and captain Nikola Grbic,
while Argentina have a 2-6 record after
losing twice 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-17,
25-21) in Belgrade and 3-2 (25-21,
32-30, 27-29, 17-25, 34-32) Novi Sad.
With the Final Round starting on July 8
in Belgrade, the run into the final
weekend of the Intercontinental Round is
heating up nicely with only two rounds
remaining.
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Competition Formula