Poland cruise past Chinese Taipei as second weekend of World Grand Prix begins |

Fans queue outside Okayama Momotaro Arena in Japan as they prepare to see Poland face off against Chinese Taipei |
Okayama, Japan, August 13, 2010 – Poland continued their winning streak in the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix on Friday with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) victory over Chinese-Taipei in Okayama, Japan moving to the top of the standings as the second weekend of the annual women’s tournament begins.
The Poles, who won all three of their games at home last week, were not at their best, but still had more than enough firepower to overcome the inexperienced women from Chinese-Taipei.
Anna Baranska led the Poles with 12 points, while Yin Feng Tsai was top scorer for Chinese-Taipei with 10.
The match started off fairly slowly, but clearly Chinese Taipei were nervous about facing the European powerhouse. Three errors allowed Poland to cruise into a 7-3 lead with little effort when Japanese coach Norimasa Sakakuchi called a timeout to try and steady his players. While Poland were not exactly setting the court alight, the Taipei players found it hard to get their act together and Sakakuchi had to call another timeout with the score at 14-7. Finally, at 19-10, Chinese Taipei put a run together behind the serving of Wan Ju Liao. Yen Min Teng made a great block on Katarzyna Skowronska-Dolata to earn a point and Yin Feng Tsai contributed with a solid spike to pull the scores back to 19-13, but Anna Baranska stopped the rally with a good spike. Wan Ting Chen made it 23-15 before Klaudia Kaczorowska and Katarzyna Zaroslinska wrapped up the set with a pair of spikes.
Both sides started the second set with renewed focus. Chinese Taipei's Chen contributed a neat tipover and strong spike to earn a two points and Tsai did likewise for a couple more points as Chinese-Taipei held their own in the early stages. Chinese Taipei continued to play well and the Poles were forced to raise their game as a result. Despite pulling ahead Chinese Taipei fought back but were still struggling against the Europeans, who stretched their lead to 20-14. Agnieszka Bednarek-Kasza contributed a couple of spikes to before a decent shot by Skowronska-Dolata saw them take the game to 2-0.
Sakakuchi called an early timeout in the third after his team fell behind 3-0 and Chinese Taipei were once again struggling. The Poles were also spiking better with Joanna Kaczor and Skowronska-Dolata finding their range. But improved defense – exemplified by a great block on Baranska by Tsai – from Chinese Taipei meant the Poles weren't going to run away with the match. Baranska had a good late spiking spell to put more space between the two teams before she finished things off with a solid shot.
Poland will face home side Japan on Saturday as Chinese Taipei will continue the search for their first victory as they battle against Germany.
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