Sendai, Japan, November 29, 2006: Tenacious Tunisia ended their World Championships campaign on a winning note, beating Puerto Rico 3-2 in a Pool E marathon on Wednesday.
The Africans won their first match of the second round, 38-40, 28-26, 16-25, 25-22, 15-11 to end with a 1-6 record and drop Puerto Rico to 2-5.
With Tunisia already eliminated and Puerto Rico already in the 9-12 classification bracket for Tokyo, the tempo and motivation of both teams was a little low in the early stages.
The Caribbean team led 8-6 at the first TTO, by which time points machine Hector Soto had already scored from right and left, the latter with a gentle push over the block into space, and southpaw Jose Rivera had displayed his quality on the left flank.
In the middle, Rene Esteves and captain Luis Rodriguez gave the Tunisians an early warning of their ability to pick off the points at the net.
In reply, Chaker Ghezal spiked and blocked at the net, and Noureddine Hfaiedh continued his impressive form out wide. Puerto Rico led 16-13 at the second TTO, and when Tunisia pulled level on some fine southpaw serving from captain Ghazi Guidara, Puerto Rico called the first TO of the match.
Hosni Karamosly and Victor Rivera traded flashing spikes as the teams battled for supremacy, but a soft serve from Esteves crept through the Tunisian defence and pushed Puerto Rico ahead by two at 21-19.
There was a chaotic end to the first set. Tunisia missed six opportunities to close it out, before Puerto Rico finally won it 40-38 on their 10th set point when a Tunisian player put his arm over the net into Puerto Rico territory for a technical penalty.
The first set had taken 36 minutes, and Puerto Rico setter Angel Perez had to give way to Jose Quinones with a hand injury at 29-29. Soto scored 12 points in the first set alone, taking his tournament total to a round 200, while Aymen Ben Brik and Hfaiedh both tallied six for the Africans.
Tunisia clearly did not want to go home just yet, and they started the second set in determined mood to build up a healthy lead at 13-8.
The Tunisian block was functioning much better, especially on Soto, but poor serve reception allowed Puerto Rico to close the gap to three, 14-11. Rodriguez led his team from the front, spiking swiftly at the net and blocking across the line for 15-15, at which point Hichem Kaabi was replaced by Walid Ben Abbes.
A mighty leap and vicious spike from Karamosly kept Tunisia out in front 18-16, but when Victor Rivera made it 18-18 with a fine winner from the left, Kaabi was brought back into the Tunisian attack.
Kaabi nudged Tunisia ahead with a flashing spike from the right, 23-22, and sent Puerto Rico into a TO.
The end of the second set was far from straightforward either, with Tunisia eventually winning it 28-26 for 1-1 on their fourth set point, thanks to Kaabi's quality on the right.
Puerto Rico took charge of the third set early, frequently holding a five-point advantage toward the mid-point, as Victor Rivera took up the challenge in attack and on the block.
Tunisia's serving was more consistent, especially through captain Guidara and Hfaiedh, but their spikers were struggling for accuracy, notably Ben Brik and Kaabi. Puerto Rico enjoyed a six-point cushion, 16-10, at the second TTO, and a fine block by Esteves made it 17-11.
A flying one-handed save from Jose Rivera supported by more good blocking turned a seemingly lost point into another Puerto Rico winner, and Tunisia called a TO in trouble at 22-14. Soto pushed one over on the right, Rodriguez struck down the middle and Victor Rivera pummelled a winner from the left, and the third set was Puerto Rico's 25-16 for 2-1.
Tunisia jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, and Karamosly tried to match anything Soto could throw at them. A fizzing serve from Jose Rivera closed the gap to 7-5, before Hfaiedh brought up the first TTO with a winner from the left, 8-5.
A Ben Brik block on the flying Soto underlined Tunisia's supremacy at this point, and Puerto Rico headed off for a TO trailing 14-9 and lacking fire. The Puerto Rico centre players were having difficulty tracking the runs of the silver-haired Ghezal, who helped his team hold a six-point advantage, 16-10, at the second TTO.
Mohamed Trabelsi and Rodriguez maintained the fight for dominance of the net, and a Trabelsi punch made it 21-17 Tunisia. The same player hammered another for 22-18, but when good blocking from Puerto Rico closed the gap to two points, the Africans called a TO.
Ben Brik restored their three-point lead, Karamosly brought up set point at 24-20, and Karamosly finished it 25-22 on their third set point for 2-2.
Puerto Rico called a TO in the fifth when falling behind 5-1 on a long spike from Soto, following a good Tunisian start from Karamosly and Ghezal. Ben Brik took them to 7-3, and Hfaiedh made it 8-3 to Tunisia at the turnaround. Karamosly pounded another crashing winner for 11-7, but when Enrique Escalante pounced at the net to close the gap to 11-10, the Africans needed a TO.
Ben Brik's clean spike from the left took his team to 13-11, and a block by Skander Ben Tara blocked for match point. Soto spiked long and the match was over 15-11.
