23-Nov, start time: 15:06, end time: 16:44 - Attendance: 5,200

BRA	3	25	25	23	25	-	98
CHN	1	21	20	25	18	-	84

Match Description:

Brazil does it tough against game China

In a fantastic display of against the odds Volleyball, unfancied China took a set off world champions Brazil before going down in four in the second match in Okayama on Sunday of the 2003 Men's World Cup.

Brazil, the World Cup leaders with five wins from five, took the first two sets in usual quality style before Asian vice-champions China showed their true potential by claiming the third with great defence and innovative attack. But the dream couldn't last and Brazil stormed home in the fourth set to maintain their unbeaten record in the tournament.

The start of the match made for an even beginning when both sides chose to rest key players, with both captains not starting the match. This effectively allowed China to keep pace with Brazil until the dying stages of the first set when Anderson Rodrigues blocked Miao Tang to make it 24-19 before completing the honours by smashing home the winner.

It was a similar pattern in the second set with China matching Brazil's every move until the bearded Giovane Gavio worked his magic with a succession of power spikes to open a 22-17 lead. By that stage the set was effectively over and it was left to Dante Guimaraes Amaral to collect his fourth point of the match by spiking down the tramlines.

But two sets up Brazil were caught on the hop when China provided some courageous backcourt play from libero Hui Chu and imposing defence by Xiaodong Zhang to open a 7-3 lead. Brazil tried their best to peg back the difference with coach Bernardo Rezende introducing some of his stars but China still held firm and captain Hairong Shi finished the set with his fifth spike.

China continued their surprise act at the beginning of the fourth set to lead 9-7 but Brazil climbed back with Nascimento providing a block and spike to put Brazil ahead 11-9 before he stepped up to the service line and increased the lead to 16-11. By this time Brazil was on a roll and the left armer finished proceedings with an ace.

Comments:

REZENDE, Bernardo (BRA Head Coach)
We had a good game. There are many young players with fighting spirit in China team. We had some ups and downs especially in the 3rd set. I hope to go to Tokyo without losing any matches at all.

RODRIGUES, Anderson (BRA Player)
Many good players in China performed with fighting spirit. Our team played well, but we made some trouble. I hope to perform better in the future matches, reviewing today's contents of the match.

DI, Anhe (CHN Head Coach)
Congratulations to Brazil. The experience we got against such a strong team is a good one for us. We tried our best, but we couldn't get used to the technical changes of Brazil. We should improve to catch up with the top teams in future matches. This match will help us. Anyway I am satisfied with players' performance.

CHU, Hui (CHN Player)
We played a good game technically and mentally. Although we lost, I am happy to compete with one of the world's best teams like Brazil. We will continue to train hard and play well in the remaining matches.

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF