China Supreme in Women's Grand Prix Preliminaries

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, July 22, 2002

China Supreme in Women's Grand Prix Preliminaries

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China reigned supreme in the second preliminaries of the 2002 women's World Grand Prix after taking spirited Thailand in straight sets 25-14 25-14 25-15 in their final clash Sunday in Nakhon Ratchasima of Thailand.

The Chinese women have already won the World Championship, the World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Grand Champions Cup. Only the World Grand Prix has eluded them, but they are now also a serious contender for that crown as well.

Using its height advantage and power-and-speed style, China also demonstrated superb defensive skills. After taking 25-14, 25-14 wins in the first two sets, China rolled on to their unstoppable rhythm to win the third set 25-15 and the match.

"I'm happy that my team won the second preliminaries here after we finished second to Russia in the first prelims last week on home soil. We have to take on Thailand again in the third prelims in Macao. I think my girls will maintain their form and do their best in every meet they compete in. We have our eyes on the title," Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe said.

Earlier, titleholder United States beat reigning world and Olympic champions Cuba in straight sets, 25-21 25-17 28-26. In last week's first preliminaries in Chengdu, China, the American had already wedged out their Cuban rivals 3-1.

"I'm happy that my girls came out with improved form. However, I think they still need more experience in receiving and spiking. Although we are defending champions, our chances of making it to the four-team finals in Hong Kong are very slim," American head coach Toshiaki Yoshida said after the match.

After three days of play, unbeaten China captured the top prize money of U.S. dollars 40,000.

Cuba, China, the USA and Thailand are competing in Pool D. The teams meet again for the third preliminaries July 26-28 in Macao and Mial Li, Taiwan.

Eight teams �� China, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Cuba, the United States, Germany and Thailand �� are competing in three round-robin preliminaries of the 10th World Grand Prix.

The grand finals will take place Aug. 1-4 in Hong Kong among the top three teams after the completion of the three preliminaries plus hosts China competing in a single round-robin format.

The winner of the finals gets dlrs 200,000 cash award.

Source: Agencies

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