China squander two-set lead as Brazil storm to victory

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.'

'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.'

In the next match, the US had too much firepower for South Korea, winning in straight sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-20.

Nancy Metcalf top-scored for the Americans with 17 points, including 15 elegant, left-handed spikes.

For Korea, exciting prospect Kim Yeon-Koung scored a team-high 14 points. Kim, a 17-year-old high school student, was Korea's captain and outstanding player at the FIVB Girls' Under-18 World Championship in Macau in July and made the step up to senior level with little difficulty.

Poland started strongly against Japan and won the first set comfortably, before Japan rallied and took the next two with some dazzling attacking which left the Poles in a spin. But the European champions showed their skill and power, taking the fourth set 26-24 and the decider 15-12 on their fifth match point after leading 14-8.

Malgorzata Glinka finished the job, smashing through Japan's defence from the right.