RUSSIA defeated China 3-1 Saturday in a battle between former-world champions fighting to save face with a bronze medal from the women’s Volleyball World Championship.

　　The towering Russians proved too powerful for the smaller and less stable Chinese side, defeating the Asians 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16 in Berlin.

　　It was small consolation for the Russians, who, like the Chinese, had arrived with great expectations.

　　This season’s World Grand Prix winner as well as three-time reigning European champion, Russia arrived at the championship as a heavy title favorite.

　　However, the European side encountered unexpected difficulty, losing to the United States in the opening round, laboring to defeat Italy and Cuba in the second, before once again losing to the U.S. side in the semifinals.

　　The young Chinese team, meanwhile, suffered losses to Greece and South Korea in the preliminary rounds, struggled to overcome a young Brazilian side in five sets in the quarterfinal before losing to underdog Italy in the semis.

　　Russia or the former-Soviet Union claimed the world title in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1970 and 1990, while China triumphed in 1982 and 1986.

　　The highly-anticipated clash between the towering 2.05-meter Russian Ekaterina Gamova and the 1.96-meter Chinese Zhao Ruirui was at its fiercest near the end of the set, marked by several long rallies.

　　“We’re not experienced enough, they don’t have enough self-confidence,” said China’s head coach Chen Zhonghe. “Nevertheless we almost reached our goal. We reached the final four.” (SD-Agencies)