Brilliant Brazil look good for gold
BEIJING (Reuters) - Brazil showed why they are favorites to win their first Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball on Monday by crushing six-times gold medalists Russia in straight sets.
Two years ago Russia, once the dominant force in the game, beat Brazil in the final of the world championships but on Monday there was a huge gulf in class between the two teams.
The Brazilians, ranked first in the world, cruised to a 25-14, 25-14, 25-16 victory in the Group B game.
"I expected that because I've seen them and I know how they play and I know how we play. I knew there was a big difference," said Russia's Italian coach Giovanni Caprara, whose team have now lost both their opening games.
"The difference between two years ago is that they have done a lot of work while we stopped working," said Caprara, adding it was hard to imagine anyone stopping the South Americans.
"They are playing really well, beautiful volleyball. They play with an incredible speed and really put you under pressure."
CUBA SHARP
So far Cuba, who won Olympic gold medals in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and were bronze medalists in Athens, look the most likely to stop Brazil.
They crushed the United States 25-15 in the first set of their Group A match. The Americans, coached by former Chinese athlete "Jenny" Ping Lang, battled hard in the second set but lost 26-24 and Cuba took the match by eight points in the third.
The United States have had to cope with the killing of Todd Bachman, father-in-law of the men's team coach Hugh McCutcheon, in a stabbing attack at a Beijing tourist spot at the weekend.
In Group B, European champions Italy picked up their second straight win with a comfortable three-set victory over Kazakhstan. Francesca Piccinini top scored with 12 points.
Serbia had no trouble against Algeria, winning in straight sets and with a huge points margin of 75-40.
China lost the first set against Poland but, roared on by a hall full of local fans, they took the next three sets to maintain their winning start.
(Editing by Nick Macfie and Ralph Gowling)
(For more stories visit our multimedia website "2008 Summer Olympics" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)
