Russia, Cuba cruise to standout success in the Pool-play – FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup
Russian and Cuban men demonstrated spectacular feat in the pool-play of the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup on Thursday and cruised past to success.
Russian teams overcame counterparts from Chile and finished the Round-1 matches with 2-0 record. On the other hand, Caribbean hotshots launched full authority on Angolan tandems and finished the day with a perfect 2-0 record.
The duo of Semenov and Prokopiev from Russia opened the day by taking on Chile’s first team, which consisted of Grimalt and M. Grimalt. Russian team had the competitive edge of playing at home, which allowed the hosts to dismiss visitors in the straight
sets.
However, the Chilean duo played to its full potential and created a lot of trouble for the opponents. They exchanged long rallies with Russian rivals and committed fewer errors. The situation remained undecided until the ending moments of first set. Eventually,
Russian duo added a couple of points via successful attack attempts and closed first frame at 21-19.
Russians continued with hard hitting and picked up early lead in the following set. Chilean pair trailed behind, but did not slow down. They fought a great battle with hosts and really tested their nerves. Second set came to an end at 21-17 and Russian pair
settled for 2-0 victory in the first pool-play match.
Bogatov-Barsouk followed the footsteps of their country mates in second match and overpowered second team from Chile in the similar fashion. Chile’s Martinez and Salinas failed to match their performance with Russian team and suffered the damage. The match
ended with final score of 2-0 (21-13, 21-10) in 29 minutes.
In the Cuba vs. Angola category, two matches were played and Cuba bagged success.
The pairing of Yaimel and Escobar added the first win to Cuba’s tally. They came into competition with Abreu-Silva from Angola and held them off for 2-0 (21-15, 21-10) victory. It took them only 34 minutes to dismantle the power of their opponents. Cuba
had a very effective attack, which enabled the team to claim a comfortable win over Abreu-Silva.
The second match unfolded the similar story. Cuba played with the tandem of Sergio-Peña, while Angola was represented by SEQUEIRA-SEQUEIRA in the match. Cubans played in their usual style and continued with hard hitting throughout the match. They captured
both sets with identical score of 21-14 and pulled off success in the match. The match decision was out in only 31 minutes.
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