Russia, Brazil and the Netherlands make it two from two
 Visakhapatnam,
India, August 7, 2005 - Serbia & Montenegro, the No. 4 team
in Europe, who went down to Asian champion Korea on
Saturday, had a great escape on Sunday as India, who did not
even qualify for this championship but is taking part as the
hosts, pushed them hard before Serbia and Montenegro just
managed to win the five setter 3-2 (25-15, 24-26, 25-23,
17-25, 15-12).
The 4,500 strong local crowd rooted for India and Serbia was
nervous right through. But India, who bounced back in the
second set, led by four points in the third set, but lost
it. But the home team outplayed Serbia in the fourth set,
but went down in the decider as the Serbian block clicked.
It was the most exciting match of the day in Pool A however,
Cuba thrashed Morocco 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-17) in the
same group for its first win in two matches while Russia got
the better of Korea 3-1 (28-26, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20) for its
second successive victory.
In Pool B, Iran downed Tunisia 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-21,
25-16) as Mohammed kazem spiked superbly for their first win
in two encounters.
However, Brazil and Netherlands recorded their second
consecutive victories with Brazil beating USA 3-0 (25-22,
25-22, 35-33) in a match in which the USA lacked finish and
lost the third set over extra points after a big struggle.
The Netherlands, Europe's No.2 side, showed their class
while beating Europe No. 3 Germany 3-1 (28-26, 25-14, 24-26,
25-21). Russia, Brazil and the Netherlands are surging ahead
with two victories each for the top two spots in each group. |
Competition Formula
