Ruse, Bulgaria, September 18, 2018. Brazil finished the first round of the 2018 FIVB World Championship in the best way possible! The current Olympic champions defeated China in straight-sets 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-17) in “Arena Monbat”. The fourth Brazilian win at the tournament led the South Americans to the first place in Pool B before the final match between Canada and France later today.
The battle in the opening set was equal and both teams played point by point until the second technical time-out when the Asians were one point ahead (16-15). After the pause China made two blocks in a row and increased their lead to 18-15. In the minutes until the end of the set, the Brazilians managed to stay focused. Raul Lozano’s players started to make some easy mistakes and the current Olympic champions were one set ahead after 25-21. Wallace topped the list of the scorers for Brazil with 11 points.
In the second set China played pretty well and the result was equal (21-21). In the end Lozano’s players made another unforced errors in all aspects of the game and Led by Lipe, who was brilliant in attack, Brazil won the set by 25-22.
The current Olympic champions had the control on the field during the whole third set. With a perfect performance in all aspects of the game, Brazil took a huge 6-point advantage (18-12) and a few minutes later achieved their fourth victory in Pool B after 25-17.
Wallace topped the list of the scorers with 21 points for the winners. For China Shuhan Rao finished with 11.
It is a third consecutive Brazilian victory versus this opponent in the World Championship history! China won each of their first four matches against the South Americans (1956, 1962, 1966, 1978) at this major volleyball event, but have lost both of their most recent two encounters (1986, 2014).