Olympics volleyball round 1: Group stage matches
Olympics 2012 Indoor Volleyball Group Stage matches got underway at the Earls Court Exhibition Center in London. At the end of Round 1 in the Men’s and Women’s category, no major upsets were recorded with the hosts, Great Britain, going down without much of a fight despite the huge home crowd support.
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 29: Lucas Saatkamp #16 of Brazil serves the ball in the second set against Tunisia during Men
Groups A (W)
World No 5 , Japan, cruised past Algeria with a 25-15 , 25-14 and 25-7 scoreline. Russia in a similar fashion, destroyed Great Britain whereas the Gold Medal favorites Italy faced stiff opposition from the Dominican Republic. For the Caribbean Nation, Milagros Cabral and Bethania De Le Cruz scored added 33 points combined.
Rd 2 Predictions : Dominican Republic 0-3 Russia | Italy 3-1 Japan | Great Britain 1-3 Algeria
Group B (W)
Medal Favorites, China, came back strongly after going a set down to Serbia to win the tie three sets to one. United States of America got the better of the second Asian team, South Korea. Recording 5 wins out of 5 in the past year against the Koreans, the World No 1 team scored on 15 blocks. The most exciting game of Day 1 was saved for the last as Defending Champions Brazil came over Turkey in a five set thriller. Brazil won the roller coaster ride 25-18 23-25 25-19 25-27 15-12.
Rd 2 Predictions : China 3-1 Turkey | Serbia 3-2 South Korea | USA 2-3 Brazil
Group A (M)
Great Britain lost to Bulgaria in 3 sets. Mark Plotyczer (GBR) scored the highest number of points (16), in the game. Argentina defeated the lowest ranked team in the tournament , Australia , 25-21 , 25-22 and 25-20 . Gold medal favorites , Poland, were stretched to 4 sets by the Italians who managed to win the first set but the Polish team shrugged off the early jitters and finished strong with a greater effectiveness in their attacks.
Rd 2 Predictions : Poland 3-1 Bulgaria | Italy 3-2 Argentina | Great Britain 0-3 Australia
Group B (M)
A series of wins in straight sets dominated proceedings in this group. World champions Russia shrugged off a resilient Germany, USA, surprisingly, won comfortably against the Serbians and so did Brazil against the only African team in the event, Tunisia.
Rd 2 Predictions : Serbia 3-1 Tunisia | USA 3-1 Germany | Brazil 3-2 Russia
The must watch games if you are a Volleyball fan, are the Women’s USA v Brazil on 30th July at 11:00 pm IST and the Mens Brazil v Russia game on the 31st of July night at 2.00 am IST, that is early Wednesday morning.