Cuba edged closer to earning a place in the women's volleyball World Grand Prix finals after beating Azerbaijan in straight sets Saturday at the tournament's qualifying round, Ningbo leg.

With one match remaining in the qualifying round that includes nine legs, Cuba are now ranked the fifth place among the 12 teams. If Cuba could avoid a big loss Sunday when facing China, they will head to the World Grand Prix finals which run from Sept. 6-10 in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

The top five teams from the qualifying rounds join hosts Italy in the finals.

Also on Saturday, Olympic champions China, who had been already assured of a finals berth, crushed Poland 25-22, 25-15, 25-14 to improve their qualifying record to 7 wins and one loss.

Yang Hao paced China with 13 points, and Xu Yunli added 12 points. Mirek Joanna was the top scorer for Poland with 11 points.

China head coach Chen Zhonghe said powerful serving and slick attacking laid the foundation for their victory.

"After a heatedly contested first set, we got into form gradually. Today we did well in serving and attacking, so we had little difficulty in holding Poland at bay," he said.

Poland, the 2003 and 2005 European Champions, started off well in the first set, leading all the way until China drew level at 10-10. China led for the first time at 14-13, but Poland won four points in a row to overtake the lead at 17-14.

After China launched a 5-2 run to equalize at 19-19, the Poles made a few faults and surrendered the set 25-22.

The Chinese girls, cheered on by about 8,000 home spectators, dominated the following two sets with powerful spikes and solid blocking to close out the match in just 64 minutes.

Despite some brilliant play in the third set, Azerbaijan, who succumbed to China in four sets on Friday, had to suffer their second straight defeat at the Ningbo leg, losing 25-18, 25-21, 28-26 to Cuba.

"We are very willing to play strong teams like Cuba, because such experiences can help us improve," said Azerbaijan coach Faig Garyev.

"We might meet Cuba again at this year's world championships. I hope we will have better performance next time," he added.

After Cuba taking two sets without much efforts, the third set witnessed a seesaw situation as the lead changed hands several time.

Azerbaijan jumped to a 4-1 lead before Cuba surged ahead at 6-5. Natalya Mammadova, the overall top scorer of the World Grand Prix qualifying round, provided much of the ammunition in an 11-5 run which steered the Azerbaijanis to regain their three-point cushion at 17-14.

As Azerbaijan looked set to pulling one set back, Cuba tightened their play after coach Feilipe Calderon called for a timeout when trailing at 20-18.

The Cubans scored three points in a row at 26-25 to seal the victory after Azerbaijan squadered two match points.

Cuba captain Yumilka Ruiz Luaces paid tributes to their opponents.

"For either of the sides, it's a beautiful game. Though Azerbaijan lost it, they are still a good team. They are a rising force in women's volleyball," said Luaces.

Source: Xinhua