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China into quarterfinals |
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TITLE favorites Cuba, Russia, China and the United States have
booked places in the quarterfinals in the women’s Volleyball
World Championships in Germany.In a dramatic, high-level
contest, reigning champion Cuba edged Italy 3-1
Saturday.Meanwhile, five-time titlist Russia overcame
troublesome rookie Greece in straight sets, while Bulgaria
recovered from a first-set loss to defeat South Korea 3-1,
handing the Asians their first loss of the tournament.China
overpowered Puerto Rico 3-0.The U. S. struggled to overcome a
surprisingly gritty Dutch team in five sets and remain the
only undefeated team at the competition.In Group E action in
Bremen, three-time Olympic and world champion Cuba needed an
hour and 51 minutes to beat Italy 32-30, 17-25, 25-22,
26-24.Italy looked solid early in the first, jumping to a
17-13 lead, before Cuba rallied to go ahead 24-21 after team
veteran Regla Torres was sent onto the court.In other group E
play, feisty newcomer Greece demonstrated the fighting spirit
that led them to the second round, but were not quite up for
Russia who won 25-21, 28-26, 25-17.Solid blocking gave Greece
a 2-0 opening lead, but the Russian side came back to 5-6,
largely due to good setting by Tatiana Gratcheva.In Group F in
Stuttgart, Bulgaria defeated South Korea 19-25, 28-26, 25-14,
25-16 on the strength of a stellar performance by Antonina
Zetova, who scored 27 points.In Group G action in Riesa, the
Americans were lucky to edge past the emerging Dutch side,
needing 1 hour, 53 minutes to win 25-15, 18-25, 25-17, 21-25,
15-13. Brazil badly damaged Germany’s hopes of advancing,
defeating the hosts 3-0, with title favorite China doing the
same to underdog Puerto Rico in Group F in Stuttgart.Germany,
losing 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 to young Brazil, must beat the
Americans Sunday to avoid elimination.German coach Hee Wan Lee
said, “We sometimes played well and sometimes below our level.
Our game is simply lacking consistency. Further problems were
that some players did not what I told them and that we are
missing some players so that I don’t have real
alternatives.”Puerto Rico, who lost 25-13, 25-14, 25-14 to
China in just 63 minutes, needs to defeat Bulgaria.“Puerto
Rico is a very young team and does not have a lot of
experience. We seldom had any difficulties. A few small things
did not work that well. We have to improve on that, because we
do not get so many chances when we play against strong teams,”
said Chinese coach Chen Zhonghe.(SD-Agencies)
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