For two sets which passed in a blur of red, China were looking like certain winners of the women's World Grand Champions Cup. Even though this was only the opening match of the six-team, 15-game schedule, China had silenced Brazil by romping to the first two sets, 25-15, 25-17, at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium yesterday. Captain and setter Feng Kun was in complete control of her battery of power spikers, and the Chinese attackers were forming an orderly queue to smash their way through Brazil's flimsy defence. A straight-sets victory looked on the cards in what was regarded as China's toughest match, as the four remaining teams are South Korea, the United States, Poland and Japan. China, the defending champions of this quadrennial competition, must have thought it was over, too, as they allowed Brazil to gain some momentum and with it some fire and determination. And once the Brazilians hit their stride there isn't a lot anyone can do about it, including the reigning Olympic champions and world number one China. Brazil pulled back two sets, 25-20, 25-20, to take the match into a fifth-set tiebreak, and from 7-7 they surged clear to win it 15-8 and start their campaign with an unlikely but, in the end, thoroughly deserved victory. This opening match had the look of a final about it from the moment the schedule was announced, and China must now wait for Brazil to make a mistake if they are to recover from this early defeat. 'Everything was going well in the first two sets, and we were able to play our own game,' said China's head coach, Chen Zhonghe. 'But in the third set Brazil changed their style and we were not able to continue in the same way. 'We could not get back into our usual pattern.' The change of style was to clamp down on China's array of spikers. Chu Jinling was restricted to just nine points, including three service winners, and Zhang Ping to 10, as Zhou Suhong (16) and Li Juan (15) took over the attack. Chu is normally so effective from the wing, and Zhang through the middle, timing her runs from deep perfectly to meet Feng's sets. But the Brazilian blockers regrouped in the third set to turn back this double threat, although new recruit Li, from the National Games-winning Tianjin team, looks a more than useful addition to the squad. As China stumbled, Brazil grew in confidence. Sheilla Castro top-scored with 23 points, from 20 spikes and three blocks, and the powerful Welissa 'Sassa' Gonzaga added 20, including 18 kills. Fittingly, 'Sassa' scored the winning point, an unstoppable spike from the left as China's defence wilted. The United States crushed a young Korean team 3-0 in the second match, while Japan were to face Poland in the late game.
