Poland sport unbeaten mark to assume leadership

Tokyo, Japan, May 31, 2016 – Poland assumed leadership after their win over Japan, then France and China’s respective victories moved them up to second and third places, while Canada recorded their first victory on Day 3 of the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Poland’s blocking strength came out and overwhelmed the Japanese hitters. Poland wiped out 11 attacks of Japan in their 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-23) victory that maintained their unbeaten run. Overall, Poland showed composure in crucial rallies in the third set, as Japan made an impressive run. Yuki Ishikawa’s top scoring haul of 17 points was in vain, as Poland scorers Marcin Mozdzonek and Bartosz Kurek produced better results in the end game. Mozdzonek scored 13 points, including nine attacks and four blocks, while Kurek scored nine attacks and three blocks.

Earlier, Canada earned their first victory in the tournament with a 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 29-27, 15-11) win over Australia. Canada had a great start but suddenly lost their momentum in the next two sets as Thomas Edgar had prolific scoring stints from the attack line. Canada fought hard to stay in the game as Australia challenged them in every play, until John Gordon Perrin and Gavin Schmitt scored the last two points in the set that extended the match to a tie-breaker. The Canadian serve became more efficient and troublesome for the other side, which allowed the North American side build a comfortable cushion in the end. Perrin top scored for Canada with 25 points, while team-mates Nicholas Hoag and Schmitt had 23 points apiece. Thomas Edgar had 33 points on a losing effort.

China gained their second victory in three matches with their defeat of Venezuela 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-15). China played seamlessly in the match and executed their defence to contain Venezuelan top scorer Kervin Martin Pinerua to score only 14 points. Dai Qingyao funnelled 13 attacks through the Venezuelan block. Dai finished with 17 markers. China led on all fronts with 34 attacks, 10 blocks and seven aces, but the most impressive factor in their game was they were able to limit their errors to just 10. On the other hand, Venezuela struggled as they committed 24 errors that allowed the Chinese to operate gain more points on counter-attack.

Meanwhile, France bounced back from their 3-2 loss to Poland last Sunday, as they ruled Iran 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) to improve their win-loss record to 2-1. France had a balanced attack pattern that broke up the Iranian defence, while Iran had only two hitters that stepped up for them. Antonin Rouzier top scored for the winning side with 18 points and Kevin Tillie helped out with 13 points. Mahmoudi looked sharp on offence as he scored all his points from the attack line, then Milad Ebadipour added 14 markers, but received minimal support from the other Iranian players. Iran coach Raul Lozano opted to rest his main hitter Amir Ghafour as he strained his knee in their previous match. Ghafour, however, will see action in their next match against Japan.