The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Brazil rallies to beat Cuba

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Saturday, Nov 18, 2006
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Brazil rallies to beat Cuba

FUKUOKA: Defending champion Brazil rallied to defeat Cuba in four sets on Friday, the first day of the men's volleyball world championships. Andre Nascimento scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Olympic champion to a 21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-22 win over Cuba.

Gilberto Godoy added 18 points, including 16 spikes, to help the Brazilians recover from a shaky first set.

``It was our first match and it was tense,'' said Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende. ``Cuba played a very good match and were particularly good at defence. They made fewer mistakes than us in the first set. Maybe we were under a bit of pressure and that meant we couldn't play our best.''

In other Group B matches, France overcame a determined Greece en route to a 3-1 victory. France dropped the third set before clinching a 25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17 win after getting 28 points from Frantz Granvorka, who scored the winner with his 27th spike of the game.

Elsewhere, Poland defeated China in straight sets 25-21, 25-20, 25-21 to make a perfect start to its Group A campaign. Puerto Rico, playing in only its second world championships after a 32-year absence, upset Argentina in five sets. Hector Soto led the way with 38 points to help Puerto Rico to a 19-25, 34-32, 28-26, 21-25, 15-13 victory, its first over Argentina in an official FIVB match.

``We were the underdogs so there was no pressure,'' said Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona. ``All the pressure was on Argentina. This brought the best out of all the players.''

In another upset, Venezuela downed the United States 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18 in Group C. William Priddy scored 12 points but the Americans couldn't maintain their rhythm after winning the second set.

Emardo Gomez and Luis Diaz each had 19 points for the Venezuelans. Also in Group C, the Czech Republic cruised to a 25-23, 25-19, 25-22 straight-sets win over Iran.

The results:

Pool A (in Saitama): Poland bt China 325-21, 25-20, 25-21; Puerto Rico bt Argentina 19-25, 34-32, 28-26, 21-25, 15-13; Japan bt Egypt 25-13, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-12.

Pool B (in Fukuoka): Brazil bt Cuba 21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-22; France bt Greece 25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17; Germany bt Australia 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 30-28.

Pool C (in Nagano): Venezuela bt U.S. 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18; Czech Republic bt Iran 25-23, 25-19, 25-22; Bulgaria bt Italy 20-25, 26-24, 25-16, 16-25, 15-8.

Pool D (in Sendai): Canada bt Kazakhstan 25-21, 26-24, 25-21; Serbia-Montenegro bt Russia 25-22, 25-18, 25-23; Tunisia bt South Korea 25-22, 24-26, 17-25, 28-26, 15-13. — Agencies

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