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China, Serbia remain in World Cup title contention

Xinhua, September 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three-time World Cup winners China and European powerhouse Serbia kept alive their hopes of landing the title of the 2015 FIVB Women's World Cup after picking up respective victories on Saturday to share a 9-1 record at the end of Day Ten. World champions the United States rallied past Japan in the last match of the day to share an 8-2 record with Russia.

China seized a 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 25-20) win over Russia, which completed a huge upset of world champions USA on Friday. China took the first two sets but Russia fought off with a tight win in the third frame.

In the fourth set, China pinned the Russians scoreless in the last five plays to be one step away from their fourth World Cup title. Zhu Ting made a heroic effort to notch 29 points, built on 21 kills, seven blocks and a service ace, to outscore Russian Tatiana Kosheleva, who charted 24 markers.

Serbia warded off an inspired Kenyan run in the third set to come up with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-19) triumph over Kenya in Komaki. Serbia started off with their big gunners Tijana Boskovic and Brankica Mihajlovic but as the Serbians dictated the tempo in the first set, coach Zoran Terzic opted to give these players some breather after some tough matches in the other rounds.

Serbia still ended up with a good result as Terzic's hitters utilized their height and strength to overpower the Kenyan blockers. Jelena Nikolic led the Serbian assault with 11 points.

With one last match remained for each of the 12 teams competing in this World Cup, China led the standings with 27 points while Serbia were second at 24. The Chinese women will face Japan on Sunday evening while Serbia take on Argentina.

Earlier on Saturday, Dominican Republic snapped a two-match losing streak after they defeated winless Algeria in straight sets (25-11, 25-12, 25-7). The Dominicans overwhelmed the Algerians in service aces 8-1 and blocks 8-1. Marianne Fersola Norberto topped all scorers with 15 markers to give the Dominicans a 5-5 win-loss record.

In Komaki, Cuba withstood their first set loss to Peru and staged a comeback to finish with a 3-1 (13-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-19) win. After struggling on their floor defence in the first set, Cuba mounted tough blocks against the Peruvian attackers that completely shifted the tempo to their side.

Heidy Rodriguez and Sulian Matienzo contributed 19 and 18 points, respectively, to the Cuban win, while Karla Ortiz and Katherine Regalado had to work harder to earn their points, finished with 15 and 13 points.

Kim Yeon-Koung powered the South Korean offence in their straight-set (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) victory over Argentina at the Park Arena Komaki. South Korea improved to 5-5 while Argentina slipped to 4-6.

Yeon-Koung delivered 14 kills, two blocks and two aces; other South Korean hitters Kim Hee-Jin and Lee Soyoung also hit the double-digit mark with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Natalia Aispurua led Argentina with eight points.

In the last match of the day, the American women overcame a sluggish start to beat the hosts 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-10). Nicole Fawcett came from the bench to lead the American scoring with 20 points from 13 kills, five blocks and two aces.

The United States enjoyed a balanced offense with Jordan Larson-Burbach, Foluke Akinradewo, Tetori Dixon and Kelsey Robinson also in double scoring digits. Endi