Unbeaten Cuba conquers China's volleyball team
Unbeaten Cuba conquers China's volleyball team
JAKARTA (JP): World champion Cuba lived up to its famed
prowess by beating arch rival China in the second leg of Women's
World Volleyball Grand Prix yesterday.
Seasoned Luis Mireya displayed her jumping smashes to
orchestrate the Cuban charge against struggling China, which
stole a set before giving up 10-15, 10-15, 15-12, 9-15.
Earlier, Russia pushed South Korea to the bottom of the group
with a hard-earned 15-7, 9-15, 15-13, 17-16 win.
Cuba stretched its winning streak to 6-0 after sweeping the
opening leg of the US$2 million championship in Honolulu last
week. The Caribbean side looks set to regain the title at the
finals in Shanghai in September.
The young Chinese, suffering their only loss here, finished
second in the group and had to be content with US$30,000 in prize
money. Cuba scooped the top $75,000 check.
Cuba's 3-1 victory was a repeat of the result in Honolulu, but
coach Eugenio George said China was stronger. "China played an
attractive game today, but we managed to maintain our top form,"
he said.
Soaring to two sets up, George rested Mireya and let Idalmis
Gato inspire the team. China sped up the pace to leave a weakened
Cuban side scrambling to the end. However, the Asian team which
took the command throughout the set, needed three game points
before forcing Cuba to play another set.
Mireya came back to the pitch under the cheers of 9,000
spectators at the Senayan indoor stadium when Cuba experienced
trouble breaking China's solid blocking. China briefly kept its
momentum to get up 8-6.
When the game stood at 9-9, Mireya, the 1993 Most Valuable
Player, smashed her way to seven successive winners, sealing
China's loss.
Chinese coach Lang Ping said that her players lacked
experience in handling the Cubans. "We once managed to play a
fast game, but we had big passing trouble," Lang, who retired
from the national team in 1985, said.
In Taipei, the U.S. finished unbeaten to top the standings
following its come-from-behind 10-15, 15-13, 15-10, 15-10 win
over Japan. Defending champion Brazil, smarting from its upset
loss to the Americans on Saturday, beat Germany 15-8, 15-10, 13-
15, 15-6 to take the second spot. (amd)