Hosts China outclass Japan, Brazil beat Poland
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China produced an impressive performance to outgun Japan 3-1 in Ningbo on Thursday in the FIVB World Grand Prix finals, while defending champions Brazil rebounded from a shock defeat on the first day to book a 3-1 win over Poland 3-1.
China lost to Italy 3-0 on Wednesday in their opening match. But inspired by the deafening cheers of more than 3,000 Chinese fans, the hosts beat Japan 29-27, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-19 for their first victory in the six-team round-robin competition.
The start of the first set turned out to be a tit-for-tat battlefield and the distance between the two teams never exceeded two points. The Chinese team managed to level at 17-17, but the battle became even more heated in the closing moments as China saved two set points before claiming the frame on its third set point.
Japan opened the second set with a 6-3 lead. They made several receiving and spiking errors to help China take over the lead 14-12. Both sides changed the lead before Yamamoto Ai scored two straight points to help Japan take the set 25-23.
The Chinese team came back in the third set. With Wang Yimei and Chen Liyi spiking consistently from the flanks, China pulled away to 12-6. When leading by 22-20, China won three points in a row to capture the set.
The Chinese took the upper hand in the fourth set on back of fast attacks and solid blocks and eventually captured the set without ease.
Earlier on Thursday, world No. 1 Brazil claimed a easy 25-21, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-17 win over Poland.
Brazil made an early lead in the opening set by 8-4, and the excellent spikes and blocks by Fabiana, combined with a string of errors by Poland, secured the leading position for Brazil at 16-11. The dogged Polish side then showed resilience to equalize at 20-20, but Brazil held their nerves to seal the set.
When the score was locked at 23-23 in the second set, Agnieszka Bednarek-Kasza delivered a spike from the right and followed up with a superb block to give Poland the last two points.
Tied at 1-1, Brazilians were hot in attacking in the following sets, they proved too much for Poland as the star trio of Sheilla, Fabiana and Jaqueline dominated the net. Jaqueline jumped high from the left flank to smash a spiking winner to help Brazil won the third set 25-20.
After setting up a 11-6 lead in the fourth, Brazil never looked back and locked the victory with 25-17.
In another match played on Thursday, the United States claimed a easy win over Italy in straight set.
The Americans, who overcame Poland 3-2 Wednesday in their opening match, won the match by a scoreline of 25-23, 25-20, 25-14 in 77 minutes.
With two victories in hand, the United State now ranked No.1 among six teams with five points. Brazil, who have four points, ranke second while Italy third with three points.
China will face Poland on Friday while Japan will clash with Italy. Brazil, who is striving for their ninth title of the Grand Prix, will meet the United States.
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