Brazil claim Final Round spot while
Pools B & C remain open
 Lausanne,
Switzerland, June 26, 2005 – Champions
for the past two years Brazil will
defend their crown in the Final Round in
Belgrade after securing the Pool A
ticket following two straight set
victories over Japan Sao Paulo during
Week Five of the Intercontinental Round,
while their closest rivals Portugal
split their matches with Venezuela.
Portugal needed to do the double in
Caracas and after completing an
excellent 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-22) win
on Friday, they collapsed badly as
Venezuela triumphed 3-0 (25-20, 25-22,
25-19) on Sunday, eliminating Portugal
from the race. With one round (two
matches) still to play, Pool A sees
Brazil on top (9-1), Portugal second
(6-4), Venezuela third (5-5) and Japan
still searching for their first win.
Pic: Support for Brazil at home was
amazing
Meanwhile, the race for Final Round
tickets in Pools B and C will go down to
the wire.
In Pool B, Cuba and Italy are neck and
neck after the 2004 silver medallists
fought back from a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19,
25-21) defeat on Friday with an
impressive 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 29-27,
25-19) win in Havana in front of 16,000
fans. The eight-time World League
champions now sit level with Cuba with
six wins and four losses, although Cuba
is ahead with a better set average.
Bulgaria (4-6) and France (4-6) are also
still contention after they split both
their matches including an epic 3-2
(21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11) win
to France on Sunday.
Cuba hosts France next weekend while
Italy travels to Bulgaria.
Pool C continues to keep fans on the
edge of their seats heading into the
final weekend after Serbia & Montenegro
silenced over 11,000 local fans when
they pipped Poland on Saturday in a
marathon five-set cliff hanger 3-2
(23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-10) in
Katowice. Poland had beaten Serbia &
Montenegro on Friday 3-1 (20-25, 25-17,
25-23, 25-20) moving them to a 7-3
record, however, second placed Greece
couldn’t capitalize after they split
their matches with Argentina including a
3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20) defeat
on Sunday. Greece are 5-5 and must beat
Serbia and Montenegro twice next weekend
and hope Poland trips up in Argentina
for any chance of reaching the Final
Round.
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Competition Formula