Brazil beats Japan using the advantage of height – 2011 FIVB Grand Prix
The World Champions Brazil earned a straight set win over Japan in the second match of the Final Round of the FIVB Grand Prix on Thursday, August 25.
The Final Round of the 2011 FIVB Women’s Grand Prix is underway in Macau, China from August 24-28, while Brazil and Japan are playing in Pool B. The South-American squad worked out an impressive performance against Japan and claimed the second win of the
crucial round by polling 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, and 25-21) on board.
It was quite easy for Brazil to put pressure on the Asian team, which had lost their previous match. Fernanda Rodriques of Brazil unleashed in his usual style and added quick points. Japan relied on the tandem of Maiko Kano and Saori Kimura but they couldn’t
fully overcome the power of strong Brazilian attack. First set inched its way to the end, while Japan score only 17 points. Brazil achieved the set-points and marked first-set win in the match.
The stellar attack of Brazilian spikers continued in the second set, while Japan failed to put up with the heavy strike of vollys. Saori Kimura attacked from Japanese side and tried to confuse Brazilian blockers. However, Brazil adjusted their block to stamp
out the Japanese tactic. At the same time, Brazilian attackers took the opportunity and stormed Japanese half with fast-moving spikes. Mizuho Ishida of Japan missed an important shot that closed another set in favour of Brazil.
Japanese players attacked with full potential and made sever attempts to extend rallies. Brazil, on the other hand, took advantage of tall stature of players and didn’t allow Japan to come up. Brazil were wary of Japanese uprising up till the end but successfully
covered the length of third set and announced match victory.
Japan captain Erika Araki: “We played against a very good team. Brazil are powerful and they have a height advantage. We played a good game but still we lost. For tomorrow we will do our best again and hope to achieve better results.”
Brazil captain Fabiana Claudino: “It was a good game. Japan is well-known for their good defense and unrelenting spirit. We feel both our attack and defense are strong today which won us the match.”
Japan head coach Masayoshi Manabe: “We played against the world number one team. We always learn from them and try to make our game better. We will adjust our game and try again to do our best tomorrow.”
Brazil head coach José Roberto Guimarães: “I am happy with this result. By winning we achieve a place at the semi-final of the FIVB World Grand Prix, which is our first goal for this competition. I agree with Fabiana (Brazil captain), we played very good
especially in defense. It is always difficult to play against Japan, as shown in the second and third sets.”
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