Russia wins the battle for supremacy at FIVB Women’s World Championship 2010
This is the second straight year that Russia has finished at the podium of FIVB Women’s World Championship with gold medal victory. They didn’t fail to impress and clawed their way to success. Russian ‘army’ knocked out the resilient rivals Brazil in a five
set thriller. They posted 3-2 (21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-14, and 15-11) victory over Brazil and successfully secured the title for another year. The grand finale of the World Championship was played in completely sold-out Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan
on Sunday, 14th November, 2010. Around 12,000 spectators showed up at the venue to witness the extreme thrilling action of volleyball.
It was 36th meeting of these two teams, which ended in Russia’s favour. Out of 36 games, Russia has won 19 against Brazil including this brilliant gold medal win at the FIVB World Championship 2010.
Point-to-Point review
Vladimir Kuzyutkin’s team opened the match with high energy. Ekaterina Gamova produced powerful serves and floaters to score early points for Brazil. Thaisa Menezes of Russia stood in the way of Brazilian spikes but couldn’t tackle the diverse shots. Brazil
led the early phase of the game with the score of 10-3. Russia hit back with eclectic combination of Sheille Castro and Natalia Pereira. The game took a lot of turns and twists, while Russia were able to chase the score. They made a great comeback and added
quick points to lead the game with 13-10. Brazil seemed to have stuck in the rut and ultimately called a timeout, in order to brainstorm and formulate better strategy for Russian strike. The vital timeout benefitted Brazilian squad as they broke the silence
by scoring points against Russia. Tatiana Kosheleva put her magic in the game and earned 16-13 lead for Brazil. They remained on the same course and forced Russia to stay behind the attack line. Brazil continued with hard-hitting and extended the lead to 20-15
at the second technical timeout.
Russia bounced back in the game and tried to narrow the gap of points. They rolled off the ball with firm hands which perfectly landed in Brazil’s court. Somehow, Russia lagged behind with one-point difference at 20-21. Brazil worked out great progress and
didn’t allow Russia to come near them. Brazil declared the first set victory with the help of 25-21.
After dropping the first set, Russia came strong on Brazil and attacked with Gamova. They put a great effort and built an early lead of 7-4 for Russia. Russian players kept the same spirit and raised the score to 8-5. Brazil committed unforced ball reception
errors which provided an edge to Russia and they moved to 10-6. The wonderful attack strategy and strong defence of Russian team created trouble for Brazil. The fireballs of Sheilla Castro continued and Russia jumped to 11-8. Brazil was drafted under pressure
and trailed behind Russian score at the first technical timeout. Afterwards, Brazil hit some nice shots and narrowed the gap of points to 11-13.
Nonetheless, the excellent blocking of Natalia Pereira barred Brazil to score points, while Gamova played her part and helped Russia’s score to rise to 16-11. Brazilian team exhibited great effort but they could only help 15 points in second set. Russia
levelled the game at 1-1 by winning the second set at 25-15.
The third set of the important gold-medal match started out with an exchange of fast spikes. Brazil sparked on the scene and took a lead of 10-6. Russia tried to gain the control of operations but Brazil didn’t allow them to raise head in the game. Brazil
remained consistent and maintained their lead until the end. Brazil captured third set by sending 25-20.
Russia exhibited an incredible show in the following two sets and confirmed their intent to hold the title trophy by hitting wonderful shots. Brazil failed to penetrate the power of Ekaterina and Castro, while Russia proved to be the better side by posting
25-14 and 15-11 respectively. The defending champions Russia re-gained the top honour for a second straight year at the FIVB Women’s World Championship.
Tags: