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Taiwan finish top of Group A in world volleyball championships
2006-11-05
Taiwan have continued their winning streak to beat Costa Rica for their fifth straight victory to finish top of Group A at the women's world volleyball championships. The Taiwanese women coasted to a 25-10, 25-18, 25-12 victory in the six-team round robin following their surprise wins over Japan, South Korea and European champions Poland. "We won five matches in a row. We thought it would be very difficult to achieve this. We've been taking part in the women's volleyball for a long time and this time we could do it," said Taiwan coach Lin Huang-hung. "We are going to keep this pace in the second round as well. We mainly played with seven players in this round, but I used several young players in this match. It was good for them to have an experience. "We've never played against Italy, Cuba or Turkey, so we want to challenge those teams and learn from that experience so that we can improve further," added Lin Sunday. Captain Chen Shu-li said the victory had boosted their confidence. "It was not easy to beat Costa Rica. The win gives us a lot of confidence. Winning five games is not easy, but we've done it, because of our coach. I want to thank him," Chen said. South Korea outplayed African champions Kenya 25-13, 25-13, 25-12 to finish fourth and joined Taiwan, Japan and Poland in the second stage. Favourites Brazil and underdogs Serbia and Montenegro also finished their groups without a loss. Brazil, the three-consecutive time Grand Prix winners, brushed aside Cameroon 25-13, 25-14, 25-8 in Group C in Kobe, while Serbia and Montenegro subdued Turkey 27-25, 25-22, 25-15 in Pool D in Nagoya. "One of our goals before coming here was to reach the second round with a 5-0 record and we managed to achieve that, so this is a positive thing," said Brazilian coach Jose Guimaraes. "We will treat the second stage like a new tournament and we must win at least three games. But it will be tough, because we will be up against good teams. I think our defense is good but need to work a little on our counterattacks and offense," he added. In Pool B in Sapporo, Germany beat Athens Olympic champions China 20-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-23.
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