2006 Women's World Championship – Portugal
Slovakia and Belarus make it two from two (FIVB)
05/05/2005
Santo Tirso, Portugal, May 5, 2005 – Winners on the first day,
both Slovakia and Belarus collected their second
successive victories on day two of the 2006 Women’s
World Championship first round tournament (Europe Pool
B) in Santo Tirso, Portugal on Thursday with Slovakia
grinding out a superb 3-2 (24-26, 25-14, 25-9, 21-25,
15-9) win over Slovenia, while Belarus had to come from
one set down for the second day in a row to beat Austria
3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-15). Portugal received the
bye.
In the first match of the day, Slovakia, with superior
blocking and a fantastic libero in Simona Kleskenova,
gave Slovenia little chance to collect their first win
of the tournament, besides the fact the match was only
decided in the fifth set. Pic: Slovakia rejoice as they collect their second
win from as many matches
Coming off a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 25-13) win over
hosts Portugal on the opening day, Slovakia were again
in top form, only letting themselves down with
inconsistency at crucial times in the first and fourth
sets. However the win will stand them in good stead for
the rest of the tournament with some tough games coming
up.
Meanwhile, Belarus, who were favoured to easily dispose
of a youthful Austrian side who were playing their first
match of the tournament, suffered a surprise first set
defeat before calling on all their experience to seal a
victory in four sets.
“We knew nothing about the Austrian team, but now I
think they are great, besides their lack of height,”
Belarus coach Vladimir Koslov said. “It was in the
reception that we won this match.”
“I think Austria trained a lot for this match and that
is why they played so well,” Belarus captain Askana
Kavalchuk said. “But we played very good tactically and
I'm very happy for winning this match.”
With the two top teams advancing through to the second
round, Belarus and Slovakia now sit on top of the
five-team table with two wins from two matches, Slovenia
are third with two defeats and Austria and Portugal are
fourth and fifth respectively with one loss.
The winner of the tournament will head to Croatia for a
second round tournament with the hosts, Serbia and
Montenegro and the Czech Republic while the
second-placed team will book a second round spot to face
Greece, France and the Ukraine in Greece.
Day three of the 2006 Women’s World Championship first
round tournament (Europe Pool B) sees Slovakia play
Austria at 15:00 (GMT) before Portugal take on Slovenia
at 17:00 (GMT). Belarus receive the rest day.
