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| 2006 Men’s
Volleyball World Championship: |
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China save eight match points
to defeat Egypt 3-2
 Saitama, Japan, November 21, 2006: China saved eight match
points before beating Egypt 3-2 on their fifth match point in a
pulsating Pool A encounter on Tuesday.
Egypt won the first two sets and missed seven match points in
the third set before China fought back to win the next two sets
and force the tie-break.
In the fifth-set decider, Egypt missed a further match point
before China won it on their fifth match point to complete an
amazing victory. China won 22-25, 22-25, 32-30, 25-20, 18-16 to
improve their win-loss record to 2-2 while dropping Egypt to
1-3.
Sensing the importance of the occasion, Egypt captain Hamdy El
safy led from the front, with some excellent blocking and
attacks from the left flank. Saleh Fathy Youssef followed his
captain's lead with some accurate spiking from the left wing, as
did Hossam Shaarawy at the net.
Egypt led by one point at the first TTO but had increased this
to three, 16-13, for the second technical break.
After studying each other's games for three matches, the
knowledge learned was clearly being put to good use, as the
blocking of both teams was snuffing out the attacking threats on
the other side.
China's Tang Miao had to work hard for his points, and captain
Sui Shengsheng was taken off with his team down 14-12 and
replaced by the strapping teenager Cui Jianjun.
Libero Ren Qi was having another fine game for China, especially
on serve reception, and showed his lightning reflexes to cover
the gaps between the blockers.
Trailing 22-20, China called a TO but it was too late to save
the first set.
El Safy made it 23-21 with another clean winner from the left,
Shaarawy blocked Yu Dawei to bring up three set points at 24-21,
and southpaw Ahmed Salah Elnaeim finished the job 25-22 with a
fiery spike from the right which Shen Qiong tried to control,
but saw the ball fly back over the net and clear the Egypt end
line, such was the force of Salah's strike.
China's spiking lacked consistency in the second set, too, and
Tang was withdrawn from the attack after a wild spike had pushed
Egypt ahead 10-8. He was replaced by Yuan Zhi, who responded by
scoring the next point but who would give way to Tang with China
down 14-12.
The athletic Shen caught the eye again with the variety of his
spiking, and a heavily sliced attack caught out the Egypt block
and defense to even the score at 10-10.
Another clean spike on the left from Youssef moved Egypt in
front 15-13, and Salah serve hit the net cord and bounced over
for 16-13 at the second TTO.
Egypt stayed in front down the stretch, and a crunching block by
Salah on Shen gave them a three-point lead at 22-19 and prompted
a China TO.
Shen and Salah were having a punishing duel out on China's left
flank, and Shen scored a couple more times to keep China close
before Mohamed Elnafrawy brought up set point Egypt at 24-22 and
captain El Safy blocked Shen down the middle on the next point,
25-22 and 2-0.
China had early points in the third set from substitutes Cui
Xiaodong and Cui Jianjun as head coach Zhou Jianan searched for
a winning formula, but as a team they could not match the
fluency or consistency of Egypt.
A soaring Tang winner down the centre was followed by a bullet
serve from Yu Dawei as China nudged ahead 10-9, but they could
not stay in front for long.
Egypt's setter and powerhouse server, Abdallah Abdel Salam,
showed his soccer skills with a neat piece of control after the
ball had struck the net cord for Egypt to win another point, and
El Safy continued to push the Africans forward, 16-14 at the
second TTO.
Just when the Egyptians looked to be in control, China fought
back furiously, and Cui Xiaodong closed the gap to one at 20-19
and forced an Egypt TO. Another slicing winner from Shen on the
left made it 20-20.
In a tense end to the third set, Egypt missed seven match points
before China won it 32-30 on their first set point when a
frustrated captain El Safy spiked long.
Not surprisingly, Egypt were still suffering at the start of the
fourth set, whereas China had fresh heart and Shen was cutting
loose.
Salah spiked wildly on the right, and when Youssef failed to
control an easy serve from Cui Xiaodong, China had a four-point
lead at the first TTO. Youssef paid the price for Egypt's
lethargy and was replaced on the resumption of play.
Down 13-10, Egypt took off ace spiker Salah in an attempt to
freshen up their attack, but had a four-point deficit, 16-12, at
the second TTO.
China captain Sui kept his team out in front, despite some lusty
blows from Mahmoud Elkoumy, and Egypt took a TO at 22-18
following a serve into the net by a recalled Salah and wide
spike from Elnafrawy on the left. Sui brought up set point at
24-19, and the same player finished it 25-20 for 2-2.
China started the tie-break in confident mood, but Salah was
back to his best and China called a TO down 5-4.
Leading 8-7 at the turnaround, China could not pull away,
despite Shen's spikes and Yu's powerful serves.
A block on Salah and a spike at the net from Cui Xiaodong took
China to 11-9 and forced another Egypt TO, and captain Sui made
it 13-10...just two points from an amazing comeback victory. Cui
brought up match point at 14-11, but they missed the next two
points and called a TO with one chance remaining at 14-13. Once
again the Egypt block saved the day, 14-14. China won it 18-16
after a bad set gave Salah no chance.
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The exhausted Egyptians gave
Poland the qualification ticket
 Saitama,
Japan, November 19, 2006: Poland romped to a third straight win
in Pool A at Saitama Super Arena on Sunday, crushing Egypt in
straight sets.
The Poles came home 25-13, 25-19, 26-24 with another high-speed
display of power spiking and blocking, and will be confident of
heading to Sendai for the second round with a perfect 5-0 record
if they maintain this blistering form. Egypt dropped to 1-2.
Poland started the match the way they left off against Argentina
on Saturday, and rushed to the first set 25-13 in 20 minutes.
Michal Winiarski and Mariusz Wlazly both scored five points, and
middle blockers Daniel Plinski and Lukasz Kadziewicz had three,
as did the inspirational Sebastian Swiderski.
The Poles had six block points in the first set as they cut off
the fiery Egyptian attack, whose left-handed ace, Ahmed Abd
Elnaeim, was restricted to just two points.
To highlight the Poles' superiority, no Egyptian player scored
more than two points in a one-sided first set.
The Egyptians stayed close for much of the second set, despite
the clear gulf in class between the two teams.
Winiarski was in his usual aggressive form, and an attempted
block by Saleh Youssef that fell wide produced a wry smile from
the Egyptian.
Another example of Poland's great control, technique and
rapid-fire attack was when Egyptian ace Ahmed Salah Elnaeim
served a left-handed firecracker. Winiarski's almost nonchalant
reception was perfect for setter Pawel Zagumny to tee up Plinski
for a crashing winner at the net; the counter-attack had been as
quick as Salah's blistering serve.
Poland's Argentine coach, Raul Lozano, used the second set to
give some of his bench players a chance, with both Lukasz
Zygadlo and Grzegorz Szymanski coming on and maintaining the
blue waves of attacks.
Trailing 23-18, Egypt called a TO to delay the inevitable, and
returned looking relaxed and full of smiles as they realized
they had nothing to lose and should try and appreciate the
volleyball lesson they were receiving.
Egypt's captain, Hamdy Awad, scored on the left to stem the flow
of points, before Swiderski brought up set point with a crashing
winner from the back court, 24-19.
The Poles did not hang around, and a bullet serve from
Kadziewicz which whistled past Awad closed the second set 25-19
for 2-0.
Poland went off the boil in the third set as Egypt relaxed and
started going for their shots. This enabled Egypt to sneak in
front on occasions, and brought chants of "Polska" from the
red-and-white clad Polish fans around the arena.
Mohamed Gabal shook the Polish defense with a fierce spike on
the right, and then tipped one over into space from the other
wing to keep the Poles thinking.
Egypt needed a TO trailing 20-18 in the third set, and still
made life uncomfortable down the stretch as Gabal took up the
attack.
The Polish block was back to its best, though, and the European
power finished the match 26-24, despite a late rally from the
north Africans highlighted by some sizzling serves from southpaw
Ahmed Salah.
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Day two:
Another Glorious day for Africa
 The
second day of the 2006 Men’s Volleyball World Championship was
bright like the first as the reigning African champions drowned
the dark horses of the opening Puerto Rico in a thriller five
sets match made the spectators in Saitama on their toes for two
hours. The overloaded Tunisian team of their big victory in five
sets over Korea was smashed by Russia in straight sets in
Sendai.
A Glorious victory for Egypt over Puerto Rico in tie-breaker
Saitama, Japan, November 18, 2006: Egypt recovered from two sets
down to beat Puerto Rico 3-2 in Pool A on Saturday.
The Egyptians formed a circle and danced in delight after coming
back to beat Puerto Rico 27-29, 19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-12 for
their first win and a 1-1 record. Puerto Rico dropped to 1-1
after beating Argentina in five sets the previous day.
Egypt held a two-point advantage at the second TTO of the first
set, but Puerto Rico pulled level 20-20 thanks to some fiery
left-handed spikes from Jose Rivera and a Hector Soto block on
Saleh Youssef.
Puerto Rico held the edge in the closing stages, but missed
chances to seal the first set when leading 24-23 and 25-24, the
latter thanks to an excellent block on Soto by Youssef.
Then it was Egypt's turn to miss two set points at 26-25 and
27-26, before Soto brought up Puerto Rico's third set point at
28-27 with an opportunistic spike at the net following a poor
serve reception. On this occasion Puerto Rico made no mistake,
as captain Luis Rodriguez rejected Mohamed Elnafrawy's attack at
the net, 29-27.
Soto, who came into the match with 38 points from Friday's
defeat of Argentina, led his team again with nine in the first
set, followed by lefty Rivera on six.
Egypt's own southpaw spiker, Ahmed Abd Elnaeim, replied with
six, closely followed by Youssef and Elnafrawy with five apiece.
The unlucky Egyptians looked a bit disheartened on the
resumption, and pumped-up Puerto Rico cashed in by building an
early lead. When Victor Rivera blazed another winner from the
left past a two-man Egyptian block, the Central Americans led
16-9 at the second TTO and were well on course to take the
second set.
Trailing 20-11, Egypt clawed their way back. Mohamed Gabal
tipped one over the net, Youssef struck on the left wing and
Mahmoud Elkoumy blocked to keep the pressure on Puerto Rico.
Ashraf Abouel Hassan then caught out the Puerto Rico defence
with a well-disguised, well-flighted service ace to the front
court. The Puerto Ricans were too far ahead, though, and Rene
Esteves closed out the second set 25-19 for 2-0.
The teams stayed close in the third set, and Egypt's luck may
have changed when a serve from lefty Elnaeim struck the net cord
and bobbled over to give his team a two-point advantage, 16-14,
at the second TTO.
Puerto Rico were struggling to hold their attacking rhythm, and
a mistake from Jose Rivera gave Egypt a three-point cushion at
21-18. When Elnaeim made it 22-19 with a blistering, angled
spike from the right, Puerto Rico called a TO.
Despite the efforts of Soto, Egypt had the momentum and won the
third set 25-21. Elnaeim brought up set point with a trademark
winner down the middle, and a strong serve from Youssef did the
rest.
Egypt came out for the fourth set with renewed vigour and
confidence, whereas Puerto Rico had gone quiet and were still in
a state of malaise and failing to end the match in three.
The Egyptians blocked and attacked with all their might, and
Elnaeim took them into the first technical break with a
four-point lead thanks to a crashing winner from the right at
the top of his leap that drew gasps and applause from the
neutral fans.
Youssef was also playing a major part in the revival, and
Elnaeim thundered another right-wing winner for 16-14 at the
second TTO. An agile set by Hassan teed up Ossama Bekheit for a
clean winner at the net, and Egypt powered on to take the fourth
set 25-20 for 2-2 when Puerto Rico's serving collapsed. Soto had
been removed from the attack with his team down 21-17, such was
the changing complexion of the match.
Soto was back for the tie-break, though, following his rest.
Indeed, the whole team looked refreshed and jumped out to a 3-0
lead, forcing an Egypt TO.
Behind some whistling serves from Elnaeim and a fine block by
Hassan on Victor Rivera, Egypt led 8-5 at the turnaround.
Elnafrawy at the net and captain Hamdy Awad on the left extended
Egypt's lead to 11-7, forcing a Puerto Rico TO, and Bekheit rose
at the net to hammer home a loose ball on the restart, 12-7.
Soto and sub Alexis Matias won the next four points between them
to close the gap to 12-11, but Egypt skipper Awad ended the skid
with a huge blow on the left for 13-11. On match point at 14-12,
a slow serve from Awad caused confusion and ended the match,
15-12 and 3-2 Egypt.
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Japan end Egypt's bold
come-back in tie-break
 Saitama,
Japan, November 17, 2006: Japan survived a furious rally by
Egypt to begin their Pool A campaign with a 3-2 victory at
Saitama Super Arena on Friday night.
The home team won the first two sets 25-13, 25-21 but lost the
next two 26-24, 26-24, before regrouping to take the tie-break
15-12 in front of over 9,000 spectators.
Japan were determined not to suffer stage fright on opening
night, like their women's team had done against Asian rivals
Chinese Taipei in Tokyo on October 31.
The hosts romped to the first set 25-13 in 20 minutes, with net
master Nobuharu Saito, southpaw spiker Takahiro Yamamoto and
captain Masaji Ogino scoring four poins apiece.
The fearsome left-handed spiker Ahmed Abd Elnaeim led Egypt's
reply with seven spikes, six more than any of his teammates.
In the second set, Japan maintained a fast pace. Ogino's
persistence and power was a constant source of inspiration to
his team, and Yamamoto was really in the mood with his flashing
cross-court attacks.
Leading 19-16, Japan head coach Tatsuya Ueta replaced Kota
Yamamura with crowd favourite Yu Koshikawa, who had been left
out of the starting six. This produced one of the biggest cheers
of the night inside the Super Arena -- and then one of the
biggest sighs when Koshikawa served into the net.
Yusuke "Gottsu" Ishijima pulled off a lightning dig on the
dangerous Elnaiem, and then wisely ducked under the rebound from
the same player as it whistled over his head and out for Japan
to lead 21-17.
Hossam Shaarawy kept the points ticking over for Egypt, on the
block and in attack, but Ishijima was the dominant player in the
closing stages of the second set, which Japan took 25-21.
Egypt's blocking was hot in the third set, and Japan needed an
early TO down 4-1. Yamamura reduced the deficit with a wristy
winner at the net, and setter Yuta Abe followed up with some
agile play in attack, block and dig.
A stupendous drive from Ishijima brought Japan level 7-7 and
sent Egypt for cover in a TO as their early third-set advantage
had been wiped out by a pumped-up Japan team.
The blistering serves of Abdallah Ahmed helped take Egypt to the
second technical break ahead by three at 16-13, as Mahmoud
Elkoumy, Hamdy Awad and Shaarawy all scored in quick succession
to remind Japan that they still had a match to win, despite
leading 2-0.
The closing stages of the third set were full of furious
exchanges as Egypt fought to stay alive, and an Abe block on
Elkoumy had coach Ueta jumping in delight on the sidelines.
Captain Awad came up with some crucial winners for Egypt down
the stretch, but Japan missed one match point at 24-23 before
Egypt won the third set 26-24 when Ogino spiked wide.
Shaarawy was beginning to dictate play at the net, and Japan
replied through southpaw sub Ryuji Naohiro on the right and a
full-blooded spike from Ishijima which crashed through the block
and struck power server Ahmed on his right shoulder, knocking
him down.
Egypt were certainly not down, though, and trailed by only one
at the second TTO.
From 18-18, Egypt won four straight points to force a Japan TO.
A gentle serve from Elkoumy was allowed to drop in for an easy
point, and Egypt's blocking maintained the momentum.
Ishijima would not let go of the set, and some incredible
defence and attack in the same rally, followed by a Naohiro
spike from the right, took Japan to 23-22. Egypt, with Ahmed in
confident form, hung on and even missed a set point at 24-23
before the left arm of Elnaeim produced a jackhammer spike down
the middle to end it 26-24 for 2-2.
Japan held the edge in the tie-break, thanks largely to Saito,
who punched another winner for Japan to turn round 8-6 ahead.
Two more Japan points, when an attempted block on Ishijima flew
wide and when Elnaeim served into the net, made it 10-6, but
Elkoumy sparked a fightback to 12-11 Japan and a home TO.
Yamamura brought up match point at 14-12, and a Saito block on
Elnaeim ended it 15-12.
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CGI
