European champions Poland lost one set before fending off a challenge from Africa's top team Kenya on the opening day of the women's event at the world volleyball championships yesterday.
Poland surprisingly dropped the third set but quickly rebounded for a 25-15, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20 victory in the six-team Pool A round robin.
Earlier, two-time world bronze medalists South Korea opened the championships with a comfortable 25-16, 25-15, 25-17 victory over Costa Rica in a match that lasted just one hour.
PHOTO: AFP
"It was the very beginning match of the world championships and everybody was a bit nervous," said South Korean captain Kim Sa-nee.
Head coach Kim Myeong-soo said: "I tried to use as many players as possible, because this is the first match and my players must get used to the conditions."
"Fortunately we won today. But we have some players who haven't experienced [worlds] or who haven't fully recovered from injuries. We must regain our best form. It is one of our goals that my players get more experience," Kim added.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica's coach Braulio Godinez said: "We were nervous, because it was the first time for us to play in a big tournament. We haven't ever played any European or Asian teams before, and all of us are amateur."
"But we worked hard for this competition. It is difficult to play against Poland, South Korea and Japan. We are going to take as many points as possible and enjoy playing on a big stage like this," Godinez added.
In Pool C in Kobe, favorites Brazil outgunned Puerto Rico 25-21, 25-15, 25-18, while Peru breezed past Egypt 25-19, 25-6, 25-13 in Nagoya.
In Pool B in Sapporo, Germany defeated the Dominican Republic, 25-17, 25-16, 25-21.
A total of 24 teams are divided into four groups for the preliminary first stage of the championships. The top four teams from each group will advance to the second stage.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS