Russia defeated Egypt for the
second time 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22)
 The
Russian team used efficiently their dominance in the center of
the net through the middle blockers Alexander Volkov and Alexei
Ostapenko to achieve their second victory over Egypt in straight
sets 25-19, 25-22, 25- 22 in minutes in the second match of the
third weekend of the third weekend of the intercontinental round
of the 2007 World League at Cairo Stadium Complex Hall in Cairo,
Egypt on Sunday. Russia led Pool C with 11 points ahead of Cuba,
while Egypt kept their position at the bottom of the pool with 6
points.
Egypt started the match by the main line up while the Russian
coach kept some stars like Pavel Abramov on the bench. The match
was very exciting in the first part when the score went point by
point till the draw 5-5 when Russia used their well known strong
spike service to reach to 8-5 by the first technical time out.
Egypt improved the block through the center blockers Hosam
Shaarawy and Mohamed El Sayed to lead 15-14. Again Russia used
the artistry of the wing spikers Alexander Koorneev and Yurily
Berezhko to win the set 25-19 in minutes.
The second set showed more activity for the Russian spikers and
they used the mistakes done by Egyptian players in digging to
lead 4-1. The Egyptian setter Abdalla Abdel Salam used his
strong spike service to draw 6-6 aided by the concentrated
spikes of the team captain Hamdy El Safi. The Russian middle
blockers Alexander Volkov and Alexei Ostapenko did a good job in
stopping the strong Egyptian hits of Ahmed Salah and El Safi to
allow their team to get a clear lead 16-12 by the STT. Egyptian
coach Grzegorz Rys substituted the main setter Abdalla by the
other experienced setter Ashraf aboul Hassan who led and the
middle blocker Shaarawy by Mohamed Aly so Egypt led 18-17 and
the score became close till Russia used their fast attacks from
position 3 to win the set 25-22 in minutes.
Egyptian star Ahmed Salah began to work in third set through his
unstoppable hits from position 2 with the experienced left
attacker El Safi so Egypt led 6-5 before Russia returned back to
the spike services to disturb Egyptian reception and regain the
lead 8-6. Although Egypt showed some activity through their fast
attacks and the combinations led by the setter Abdalla, the
Russian team maintained their performance and dominance in block
to widen the point deficit to 16-11. Egypt struggled to save the
match as the Russian coach used some of his bench but the
visitors were more concentrating in the attacks and backline
defense to win the set 25-22 and the match in straight sets.
Press Conference
Egypt team Captain, Hamdy El
Safy:
Congratulation to the Russian team this victory which put them
at the top of the pool C. We played well in some parts of the
match but our performance was not steady all through the match
because we are not well prepared well due to the late
preparations. We used this match for good preparation to the
coming matches. I hope we appear in a better performance in the
next matches in cairo against Serbia and cuba.
Russia team captain, Vadim Khamuttskikh:
I’m satisfied with the victory but not with the performance
because we had many defects in our performance. I want to thank
the Egyptian Federation fro their hospitality during our saty in
Egypt.
Egypt Head Coach Grzegrez Rys:
We had today some problems in reception and digging but I’m glad
with the performance of our block because we had 11 points from
the block against only 5 points for the Russian team from the
block. The main problem in our team was the lack of
concentration in the critical points of each set and we did some
silly mistakes. I consider the world league as the main
preparation to the African event this year including the African
nations Championship which qualify to the World cup and the
Olympic qualification at the end of the year.
Russia Head coach, Vladimir Alekno:
I’m satisfied with the match today as we played with some of the
substitutes who did well during the match. Although we led the
pool but we think usually match by match.
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