Brazil wins tremendous battle against Serbia to play Turkey in the semis
Brazil and Serbia closed out today’s program at the Mall Convention Center in a match that was considered as a sort of pre-final, taking into consideration the stunning performances both teams had been displaying so far in the competition.
Brazil got to a great start (10-4) and even though the Serbians put up a fierce resistance, the “Cariocas” maintained a good control of their nerves in the decisive rallies to sail away right at the end of the set for the final 25-18. The Serbian block did not manage to stop the attacks of Samara and Sthefanie, whereas the Brazilians were gaining more and more confidence through a series of delightful combinations in attack and a very consistent work in defense.
The Brazilian domination did continue also in the second set: against such a stellar opponent, the Serbians were somehow obliged to play even beyond their best and with a reception that was quite often too shaky they could not have a real chance to storm back. The third set was a real delight for any volleyball fan: the score stayed very close all the way through, with long rallies, amazing actions in defense – especially for Brazil – and the Serbians had to “score” three or even four times before they finally got the point. The decisive break came after the teams were tied at 22: Lilijana Rankovic caused some troubles to the Brazilians with her tricky services and a double block of the Serbians finished the job.
The audience felt like being on a rollercoaster in the fourth set: Brazil started off amazingly, especially with Sthefanie in the serving area, moving quickly up to 11-4 but the Serbians once again displayed their fantastic team playing and fighting spirit to bounce back and level at 14 after a series of endless rallies. Teams exchanged the lead a couple of times more before Klisura hit a killing spike for the 25-23 and the tie-break. After such a demanding effort, the Serbians run literally out of fuel in the fifth set and Brazil finally seized a marvelous match after more than 2 hours to play Turkey in the semifinals slated for Saturday.
Both teams having already booked their spots for the semifinals, European champion Belgium and Turkey – that had finished fifth a few months ago in Rotterdam – resumed to the court with the first place in Pool E at stake. Belgium displayed more consistency in the first set and captain van Hecke – by far the best scorer of the tournament up to now – helped out majestically her mates in avoiding a dangerous attempt of the Turks to comeback right in the very last rallies (25-23). The European gold medalists were striving for extending their winning streak up to 16 matches in 2009 but Turkey was certainly not going to open them the door for an easy job. The “young Sultans” enjoyed a very convincing start in the second set (8-4) but the Belgian machine then put up a real show to overtake the opponents and sail quite rapidly to a stellar 25-13 for the special joy of Delfien Brugman, who celebrated today her 16th birthday. The third set followed the same patterns, with a good start of the Turks who were not able to keep up that rhythm and the match eventually ended in three straight sets (25-23, 25-13, 25-18), with Belgium heading now to the semifinals with lots of confidence to strive for gold.
Peru and Japan opened the competition this morning at the Mall Convention Center for what was expected to be a very captivating game, with the South Americans displaying their Korean “style” – according to a definition given by Japanese coach Ogawa – derived from the skills that legendary Man Bok Park had introduced in Lima back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. After a close fourth set where Japan stood out in the last rallies, the teams headed to the tie-break: there the South Americans did a great job especially in reception and did never give the lead back to their opponents, with an exciting final rush that ended at 15-11 as Lisset Sosa spiked powerfully for the Peruvian victory.
Having missed the qualification for the semifinals after yesterdays’ terrific battle against European champions Belgium, the Italians found it initially difficult to find the right motivation for the match against the Thais. The game with the Belgians had been very demanding, both mentally and physically, so the hosts did not find it too difficult to set the pace in the first set but then the “Azzurre” stormed back with all their positive fighting spirit to defend their honor and display a great performance for the final 3-1.
The crossed semifinals slated for Saturday afternoon reads as follows: Brazil vs. Turkey and Belgium vs. Serbia for a remake of the final of the last European Championships in Rotterdam
