Cuba and Serbia tipped to clinch the final round berths – Volleyball News
Cuba and Serbia are highly recommended to claw their way to the Final Round of 2012 FIVB World League after the completion of preliminaries at the weekend.
The competition is supposed to enter the fourth and final leg of the preliminary round on Thursday. Cuba and Serbia, which are labelled as Pool A teams, will give the final shot to clinch berths in the next round of the tournament.
So far, both teams have done tremendously well. Caribbean men from Cuba appeared in a total of nine matches of first round and claimed 8-1 record. They bagged 23 points on account of winning eight matches and held the top slot in Pool A.
Likewise, the Serbian squad also played nine matches in first three weeks of the competition and ended up with 5-4 record. Serbia claimed a total of 15 points, which helped the team to get hold of the second position in the group.
However, Serbia had a tough competition with Russia for the second position. Russia had the similar win/loss ratio in the tournament as arch-rival Serbia. The Russians also suffered the loss of four matches, but lagged behind duo to low set percentage. They
ended up with 13 points and had to be contented in third spot.
Japan is the only team in Pool A, which has not been able to break the ice so far. The Japanese team got to play nine matches, but failed to grab success.
In the next run, all four teams of Pool A will appear in the last set of matches from June 28-30. Novi Sad, the Serbian City, will provide the backdrop for final leg of the preliminary round. Serbia will be playing in front of the home audience and it will
surely have a good effect on team’s performance. Although Russia will be trying to raise head, the hosts will have a better chance to make it to the Final Round of the 2012 FIVB World League.
On the other hand, Cuba already has the best prospects to finish as top team of Pool A. The Cuban studs are enjoying a top form and they are totally prepared for the kill in the final leg of preliminaries. Caribbean team has a very good block and attack,
which will help the team to overcome tough competitors in the coming matches. Cuban coach Samuels Orlando has the right set of players to display an up-to-mark performance.
Check for match reports and other news updates.
Tags: