2006 World Championships
Serbia and Montenegro pull off another great upset (FIVB)
06/17/2005
June
17, 2005 – Women’s world number 28 Serbia and Montenegro
continued their giant killing form in the 2006 World
Championships by beating hosts Germany in an epic 3-2
(29-31, 25-23, 25-17, 17-25, 15-7) tussle on the opening
day of the European third round tournament in Dresden.
In the day’s other match Poland beat Greece 3-0 (25-23,
25-20, 25-22). Meanwhile, at the 2006 Men’s World
Championship second round tournament - Asia Pool D in
Kazakhstan, Korea beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 (25-18, 25-23,
23-25, 25-22) while Kazakhstan beat United Arab Emirates
3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-17) on the opening day. Pic: German captain Angelina Gruen scored 27 points
but Serbia and Montenegro's defence was outstanding
In Dresden, Serbia & Montenegro, who have progress all
the way from the first round, were in sparkling form
again and stunned the hosts with an outstanding 23-point
haul from Jelena Nikolic leading the way for the
underdogs, while Germany, who are ranked ninth in the
world, relied, as usual, on captain Angelina Gruen’s
best efforts as she scored 27 points but this time it
wasn’t enough.
In the opening match of the tournament, where there are
two final round ticket sup for grabs, European champions
Poland had few difficulties as Katarzyna Skowronska and
outside hitter Dorota Swieniewicz led them to any easy
first up victory however coach Andrzej Niemczyk was less
than impressed. "It is our fourth tournament this year,
and this was our worst performance,” he said. “I don't
know why, nothing was as it should have been. If we play
at this level, we cannot win the matches against Serbia
& Montenegro and Germany. We have to improve."
Poland take on Serbia & Montenegro on Saturday while
Germany play Greece.
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan where one ticket is on offer to
the final round of the 2006 Men’s World Championship,
Korea comfortably accounted for Chinese Taipei in the
opening match of the tournament. The class of Korea was
evident right through the match but Chinese Taipei
demonstrated strong resilience at times and a
determination which would have done other side’s proud.
Both teams were true to their Asian style of Volleyball
with excellent defence backed up by a strong attack and
service.
In the second match of the day, Kazakhstan easily beat
United Arab Emirates in just over an hour.
Saturday’s matches see United Arab Emirates play Korea
and Kazakhstan take on Chinese Taipei.
