Olympic champions China and Cuba open their FIVB World Grand Prix Ningbo leg campaign on a winning note Friday.

China overcame an inconsistent play to tame Azerbaijan 3-1, while Cuba fought back from two sets down to defeat Poland 3-2 in a five-set thriller at the Beilun Sports and Arts Center in Ningbo.

China will take on Poland, and Cuba play Azerbaijan on Saturday in the round-robin group.

Natalya Mammadova, the overall top scorer of the World Grand Prix qualifying round, paced Azerbaijan with a game-high 30 points but it was not enough to prevent the Grand Prix newcomers from losing 25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24.

Spiker Yang Hao top scored for China with 22 points.

China's head coach Chen Zhonghe said that he felt relieved at the result, but is much concerned about his team's inconsistent play.

"We went off to a good start but lost control in the third set. Today's match showed again that we are not consistent. We need to continue to work on this in future," said Chen.

Trailing 2-0 in sets, Azerbaijan refused to give up. A string of hard-hitting, high-jumping attacks led by Mammadova sparked the Azerbaijanis to a 25-19 victory in the third set.

The fourth set started with tied point-gaining. Both teams tried to pull away from each other, could yet efficiently work it out.

China looked on course for victory when leading at 17-12, but a resilient Azerbaijan managed to draw level at 23-23. After wasting a match point at 24-23, China closed out the match with a blocking by captain Feng Kun and Liu Yanan.

In an earlier match, the Cubans rallied to upset Poland 18-25, 25-27, 25-15, 25-16.

Nancy Carrillo was the top scorer for Cuba with 28 points, while Milena Rosner led the Polish team with 14 points.

The Cubans looked sluggish and committed too many errors in the first two sets, but they were in complete command from the third set on back of overwhelming attacks.

When asked why his team looked totally different after the second set, Cuba coach Felipe Calderon said: "When trailing 2-0 in sets, I told my players that the match might decide whether we could qualify for the World Grand Prix finals, and they have to put more focus in court."

Cuba, who were ranked sixth in the 12-team World Grand Prix qualifying round prior to the Ningbo leg, needed at least a win to make to the finals, which run from Sept. 6-10 in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Poland's assistant coach Ireneusz Klos rued missing the opportunity of claiming their first victory in this year's Grand Prix.

"After the first two sets, I really hoped that we could win the match. But, unfortunately, the Cubans played much better thereafter," Klos said.

Poland, the 2003 and 2005 European champions, were winless so far after playing seven matches in the Grand Prix qualifying round.

The World Grand Prix features 12 teams in the qualifying round and the top five teams plus hosts Italy will advance to the finals.

Source: Xinhua