Brazil, the United States and Poland began their World Grand Champions Cup campaigns on a winning note at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium yesterday.
In an opening match worthy of a final, Brazil fought back from two sets down to defeat the defending champions China 3-2; the US swept South Korea 3-0 with an awesome display of power; and Poland came back from 2-1 down in sets to beat battling Japan 3-2 in a five-set thriller.
The event began with an epic contest between the top two women's teams in the World.
China, the world number one ranked side and reigning Olympic Games champions, went head to head with the second-ranked Brazil, who have already scored a major triumph in Japan this year by winning the World Grand Prix Final Round at Sendai in July.
China controlled the early stages of the match, and won the first two sets 25-15, 25-17 against a strangely subdued Brazil.
But the Canaries can never be written off, and Sheilla Castro (23 points, 20 spikes) and Welissa 'Sassa' Gonzaga (20 points, 18 spikes) led the response.
Although the teams were locked at 7-7 in the fifth-set tiebreak, Brazil had the momentum and surged ahead to close out the match 15-8 with a Sassa sizzler. 'It's always a difficult game against China and this one was no different,' said Brazil captain, Valeska Menezes. 'In the third set we started to concentrate more and mark their most important players. Fortunately everything went smoothly from there on, and our spirit and stamina pulled us through.'