Volleyball Update: The FIVB Grand Prix 2010- Defending champion Brazil ended with a shaky performance
The 18th Annual FIVB Grand Prix Women’s Volleyball Championship was set-in for the seasonal volleyball sensation on Friday, 2nd August 2010. The early phase of the game concluded on 8th of August and the fans experienced a fun-packed three days of unlimited volleyball entertainment.
The FIVB Grand Prix has a distinct feature that it travels around the world. Initially Brazil, Poland and China hosted the first round matches of the championship. In the second stage of the game, the players will hit the courts in new cities. FIVB will make a stop at Thailand and Japan for the second spell of the game, while China will host the second round matches in a different City.
The first preliminary stage was highlighted by some of the best performances. The defending champion of the FIVB Grand Prix, the mighty Brazilian team marked their presence in the game by hitting the floor-cracking aces. Brazil opened the tournament and played the very first match with Chinese Taipei in the home-city Sao Carlos. The crowed was piled up from every nook and cranny of the country to witness the wonderful volleyball match.
The results were predictable as Brazil was too heavy for the newly cropped player-line of Chinese Taipei. The match started and Brazil gained a competitive edge on their opponents in the early minutes of the game. The Chinese Taipei totally failed to block the centre-cross shots of powerful Brazilian spikers. Brazil posted a straight three set victory over Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, and 25-12). It seemed more like a warm-up match for Brazil.
On Saturday, 7th August 2010, Brazil wiped out Japan in three straight sets. Japan faced Brazil in the final of FIVB Grand Prix 2009. Both teams clashed for the top-spot in Tokyo, Japan. Despite of the support of home-crowd and native atmosphere, Japan couldn’t exhibit the best of their skills. The Brazilians dominated the entire scene and amused the fans with their exception volleyball skills. Japan finished as runner-up in the 2009.
Similarly, in the current FIVB Grand Prix Championship, Japan looked desperate to gain any confidence against Brazil. They could only produce unsuccessful attacks which didn’t impress the Brazilian team. The ball often landed out of the bounds or stuck into the net while Brazil used every error for their benefit. They totally rocked the podium and won the match by delivering a victory of 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, and 25-20)
However, after two wins in a row, Brazil dramatically collapsed in the hands of Italy. It was a shocking up-set for Brazil. Italy started the first set with a back-row attack and shook the defending champion with hitting spears in their court. They posted 25-22 win over Brazil in the first set and the second set was not any different either. Brazil lost the 2nd set by missing some of the bump-passes. In the third set, they explored the reason of their constant failure and saved the game by paying more attention to their ball-handling. Nonetheless, the success was short-lived as they lost the fourth set and game was won by Italy 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 18-25, and 25-19).
Brazil has just lost one match in the first round but they certainly aim to overcome their flaws in the next round matches. They will open the second round by taking on the Dominican Republic, which is relatively a low-popularity team. The real challenge for Brazil is to compete with top-ranked Chinese team. China is in a great form and has won all the matches in first preliminary round. Brazil has to formulate a good strategy to cope with the Chinese team.
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