Winning start for Brazil, Russia at volleyball worlds

Beijing Olympic gold medallists Brazil opened their campaign at the world women’s volleyball championship in style on Friday with a straight sets victory over Kenya in Pool B.

The Brazilian women, who finished runners-up to Russia in the 2006 worlds, coasted to a 25-15, 25-16, 25-11 victory over the Kenyans in Hamamatsu.

“Today’s match was the first for us, so we were a bit anxious at the beginning, but we got more relaxed later in the match,” said Jaqueline Carvalho, the top-scoring Brazilian with 12 points.

European champions Italy outgunned Puerto Rico 25-20, 25-11, 25-18, while European silver medallists, the Netherlands, outclassed the Czech Republic 26-24, 25-20, 25-14 in the six-team Pool B round robin.
Defending champions Russia lost the first set to the Dominican Republic in their Pool D opener in Osaka, but fought back for a 21-25, 25-9, 25-17, 25-11 win.

“I won’t comment on the quality of our play but I’m happy that we won. My concerns were that the players are not robots, they are humans,” said Russia coach Vladimir Kuzyutkin.

“We have three to five new players and the composition of the squad is different from four years ago. (Ekaterina) Gamova and Liubov Shashkova are the key players of our team and they showed it today,” he added.

Turkey pulled off a stunning blow to beat Athens Olympic gold medallists China 19-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-17, while South Korea defeated Canada 25-19, 25-19, 25-14.

In Pool A in Tokyo, Serbia, who came third in 2006 when playing as Serbia and Montenegro, outclassed Costa Rica 25-15, 25-18, 25-14. Japan edgegd past Poland 26-28, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-12, while Peru defeated Algeria 25-16, 25-12, 25-18.

“The first match is always difficult no matter who you play. We had a short time to practise and I hope we can put on a better performance tomorrow against Poland,” Serbia captain Jelena Nikolic.

In Matsumoto in Pool C, Olympic silver medallists the United States defeated Asian champions Thailand 23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 while Germany beat Kazakhstan 25-21, 25-14, 25-16. Croatia upset Cuba 25-23, 34-32, 25-21.

The top four teams from the four groups advance to the second stage.

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