Cuba and the Netherlands collect opening victories

Madrid, Spain, May 28, 2004 – A young and exciting Cuba side and tournament favourites the Netherlands recorded contrasting victories against hosts Spain and Cameroon respectively on the opening day of the World Olympic Qualification tournament in the Pabellón Rockodromo in the Spanish capital of Madrid on Friday.

The three-day tournament, which has on offer one Olympic berth, started with great anticipation with the Netherlands looking the most experienced, Cuba having brought a rebuilt team, Cameroon coming into the unknown and Spain boasting home advantage.

But it was Cuba’s thrilling 3-1 (25-17, 14-25, 25-23, 25-16) defeat of Spain in four fantastic sets which dealt an early blow to the chances of the hosts and sets up a fascinating clash on Saturday when the Netherlands and Cuba face off at 18:30 (Spanish time).

"Fortunately for us we won the game,” Cuba coach Roberto Garcia said. “Most of the players had been able to do what they were supposed to do and it paid off. It is always tough to play 100 percent all the time, but we played very well both strategically and tactically. This is a great start in our campaign to qualify for the Olympic Games."

Both sides were evenly matched and desperate to start the round-robin competition in the best possible way and it was evident early on the two captains Rafael Pascual for Spain and Cuba's 204cm Allen Pavel Pimienta were going to play crucial roles. In the end, after both skippers had traded blows on attack and defence, it was the towering Pimienta who was able to lead his team to victory amongst great scenes of jubilation.

In the opening match of the tournament, it was the Netherlands who collected their first win but it wasn’t as easy as most expected. The 1996 Olympic champions, ranked 12th in the world, struggled for rhythm in the opening two sets before eventually wrapping up a 3-0 victory (25-21, 27-25, 25-18) over Cameroon, ranked 15 places lower at 27th.

Cameroon showed great enthusiasm and ingenuity with captain Alain Denguessi and Guy Roger Nanga inparticular proving their class on the international stage. However, the experience of the Netherlands soon told with captain Reinder Nummerdor leading his side to a hard fought win.

“The most important thing was we won the match 3-0, but it was disappointing that we didn’t play as well as we could have,” the Netherlands coach, Bert Goedkoop said. “It was hard to play against a team you have no information about but that is no excuse to get sloppy in your own game.”

Saturday’s opening match sees Spain play Cameroon at 16:00 (Spanish time) followed by the Cuba-Netherlands match.

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