China Sets up Final Showdown with Russia at Grand Prix Final Round

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 03, 2003

China Sets up Final Showdown with Russia at Grand Prix Final Round

China beat the Netherlands 3-1 Saturday to set up a final showdown with defending champions Russia in the final round of the 2003 women's volleyball World Grand Prix tournament.

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China beat the Netherlands 3-1 Saturday to set up a final showdown with defending champions Russia in the final round of the 2003 women's volleyball World Grand Prix tournament.

The Russians, 3-1 winners over reigning world champions Italy on Saturday, and China have both remained undefeated in the round-robin final round competitions and will clash on Sunday to vie forthe championship.

China held off the Dutch women 25-19, 25-20, 25-27 and 25-17 tosecure their fourth straight victory in the final round and a top two finish.

Although, Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe was not so satisfied with the team's overall performance on Saturday.

"Both sides did not play very well," Chen said. "Both teams made a lot of mistakes and they made more mistakes than we did."

The Netherlands' Italian coach Angelo Frigoni agreed with his Chinese counterpart.

"We made a lot of mistakes and did not take the opportunities that China gave to us with their mistakes," said Frigoni.

"The players are very tired, not only physically, but also mentally," he added. "We have to play 10 games in 12 days, it's really difficult for the players."

Down by two sets, the Netherlands fought hard in the third and went ahead 18-13 with a 7-0 run. China surged back with a 10-5 run to tie it at 23-23 and withstood two set points before going down on the third when Irina Donets stopped ice a spike by Wang Li'na.

In the fourth set, China jumped to a 9-2 lead and held on to secure the victory in one hour and 34 minutes.

Zhao Ruirui led China with 20 points and Liu Ya'nan and Yang Hao added 17 and 15 respectively.

Russia stumbled in the first set against Italy but then set therecord straight by pounding the Italians in the following three sets to take the match 20-25, 25-15, 25-20 and 25-17.

Italy ran out to face Russia strongly. Within minutes they had an 8-2 edge and the full capacity home fans were euphoric.

After Valentina Borelli of Italy made it 18-11 with a perfect deceptive flick over the net, Russia scrambled back a few points to cut their deficit to 21-18, taking advantage of some rare Italian errors. Then Manuela Leggeri served at match point and Silvia Croatto put home the spike to give Italy the opener 25-20.

But Russia, the title holders and one of the world's best, werenot ready to surrender. They got their classic defense going after the match resumed and pulled away from a 13-11 advantage to take the second set 25-15.

Italy stayed within 20-18 in the third but faded to give Russiathe set and the lead. In the end it was Russia's big three - Ekatrina Gamova, Evguen Artamanova and Anastasia Belikova that contrived to pull the carpet from under the Italians. They won the fourth set 25-17 and the match 3-1.

In Saturday's other match, the United States beat South Korea in straight sets for the third place on the table with a 2-2 record, followed by the Netherlands (2-2), Italy (0-4) and South Korea (0-4).

The Grand Prix tournament, which was inaugurated in 1993, will draw an end on Sunday when South Korea face Italy and the United States play the Netherlands.

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