Chinese gear up for clash with Cuba
China's women's team easily defeated Poland 3-0 in the FIVB World Grand Prix to put themselves in the right frame of mind for their title-deciding clash with Cuba in Ningbo today.
The Olympic champions were rarely threatened by Poland, who slipped to their eighth straight defeat in the 12-team qualifying rounds as the Chinese registered a 25-22, 25-15, 25-14 victory.
The win put China joint second with Russia in the standings on 15 points, but more importantly gave them a morale boost ahead of their tricky encounter against Cuba, the world's dominant team of the 1990s.
China head coach Chen Zhonghe said his team were ready to take on the Cubans, who brushed aside newcomers Azerbaijan 25-18, 25-21, 28-26.
'We have made some improvements since our last tournament in Macau and we expect a tough match against Cuba, who are considered one of the world's top teams. It should be an interesting match,' said Chen.
China captain Feng Kun added: 'We made a lot of improvements from our earlier game against Azerbaijan. Poland also made a lot of mistakes and we weren't under pressure against them. Hopefully, we will play well against Cuba.'
China want to redeem themselves after their loss to defending World Grand Prix champions Brazil in Macau last week. The mainlanders will be looking to win the Ningbo leg in front of their passionate home crowd.
'We have the crowd behind us and we hope to perform well in front of them,' said Chen.
With spiker Wang Yimei playing another pivotal part in attack and with a supporting cast that included the excellent Yang Hao and Li Shan, China completed their victory over Poland in less than 90 minutes to set up their final match against Cuba.
Brazil currently lead the standings on 16 points after eight matches, having defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 in their latest match in Okayama, Japan.
The top five teams from the qualifying rounds, plus hosts Italy, will compete in the World Grand Prix finals in Reggio Calabria, starting next week.
