OLYMPIC champions Cuba staged a stunning straight-sets victory over strongly-fancied China at the Hong Kong Coliseum yesterday to regain the Super Challenge Cup they last won in 1990.
Cuba, Russia and China all finished the four-nation tournament, which also featured the United States, with two wins and one defeat. But the Cubans walked off with the US$50,000 first prize on a countback with the Russians second and the Chinese third.
A delighted Cuban coach Eugenio Laffita said: ''We lost to Russia in the first game because it was our first match in two months and we didn't play well at all.
''We did better against the United States and we had a training session in the morning to prepare for this game against China.
''Our only target before the match was to beat China and winning the first prize is a bonus.'' The Chinese started the match without injured captain Lai Yawen and filling the vacancy was Su Liqun, making her first appearance in the tournament after sitting on the bench in earlier matches.
Powerful attacks by Mireya Luis, Magalys Carvajal and Marlene Costa rocked the Chinese before they could settle down, and the Cubans cruised to a comfortable 9-1 lead.
The Chinese made a determined comeback and narrowed the deficit to 11-12 with Wang Yi and Cui Yongmei blocking well at the net, but that was the closest they got to bridging the gap as the Cubans went on to clinch the set 15-12.
