Day 10 Summary
Thrilling end the the Sitting Volleyball Tournament
EGY 2 - 3 BRA
(14-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-15, 13-15)
GER 3 - 2 RUS
(20-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22, 16-14)
BIH 3 - 1 IRI
(19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-15)
Kwok Ng
london2012.com
Day 7 Summary
Germany safely through
GER 3 - 2 CHN
(19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-10)
Germany come back from behind to seal the first semi-finals place in the men's sitting volleyball competition
RUS 3 - 2 BRA
(18-25, 25-15, 25-15, 19-25, 15-8)
EGY 0 - 3 BIH
(17-25, 16-25, 22-25)
UKR 0 - 3 USA
(14-25, 13-25, 19-25)
NED 2 - 3 CHN
(25-17, 14-25, 25-13, 16-25, 11-15)
GBR 0 - 3 IRI
(18-25, 13-25, 15-25)
Kwok Ng
london2012.com
Day 6 Summary
Iran and Germany win their pool, Brazil and Slovenia win their 5-8 play-off matches
EGY 1 - 3 GER
(16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 24-26)
A hotly contested match between old rivals Germany and Egypt took place on a warm and early day at the Excel Centre for the Sitting volleyball, final pool stages match. Germany kept pressing pressure on the Egypt, rarely giving.
BRA 3 - 0 CHN
(25-18, 25-23, 25-20)
Brazil pushed from the start to the finish to beat the Chinese team in straight sets. After the first technical time-out, Brazil looked the better team and won convincingly. China had a late surge in the 2nd set, although it wasn't enough for them to get back fully into the game.
RUS 3 - 0 MAR
(25-13, 25-8, 25-11)
The Russian team ended their pool with a high. The Beijing 2008 Paralympians have seen to struggle against new opposition, while also missing key players.
IRI 3 - 1 BIH
(22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-22)
A match that is a repeat of the last couple of paralympics and world championships finals went in the favour of defending champions, Iran.
BRA 3 - 0 GBR
(25-19, 25-10, 25-7)
GB were tested by the Brazilian team.
JPN 0 - 3 SLO
(19-25, 22-25, 20-25)
Slovenia never let Japan get into the lead as Slovenia cruised into the 5-6th play off match.
Kwok Ng
London2012.com
Day 5 Summary
Women finalise places for play-off positions.
CHN 3 - 0 SLO
(25-12, 25-15, 25-16)
China competed their pool play against Slovenia with a 3-0 win.
GBR 0 - 3 GER
(19-25, 16-25, 14-25)
GB came off the back from making history and had to compete against a strong German team without too much success. The Germans took control of the game, and the only moment where the Brits seems to have some momentum was between the technical timeouts in the 3rd set. From then onwards, the control of the Germans was too much against GB
IRI 3 - 0 BRA
(25-12, 25-19, 25-17)
The world number one team won quite comfortably against the Brazilians.
UKR 3 - 0 JPN
(25-20, 25-9, 25-16)
Ukraine took just over an hour to finish top of Pool A with a win over Japan. With predictions that Japan's average score would be 15points per set, a lucky guess or some inside information?!
USA 3 - 0 BRA
(25-13, 25-20, 25-19)
In a match that was a repeat of the Parapan American Games women sitting vollebyall Final, the stakes of this match were a little bit higher, as the winners of this match would gain a place in the semi finals, while the loser plays off for 5-8 place. Knowing this, the silver medallists from Beijing and World Championship runners up, USA, started off in a fierce fashion, storming off to a 16-10 lead at the 2nd technical time out before closing out the set easily. USA dominant serving at speeds of over 70km/h led them to 10 aces throughout the entire match. The second set was a bit closer but USA never seemed to be losing control of the match. However in the third set, Brazil knowing they had to win to stay in contention for the medals, held a slender lead up until the 10 points stage. Thereafter, USA came back and won the match in straight sets.
BIH 3 - 0 RWA
(25-7, 25-12, 25-8)
In the last game of the evening, world number 2 Bosnia beat the Sub-Saharan champions Rwanda in straight sets as Bosnia were seemingly in a hurry to return home and recover before facing the current champions, Iran in the following day's match.
kwok ng
london2012.com
Day 4 Summary
First time nations take away first ever wins.
CHN 3 - 0 RWA
(25-10, 25-13, 25-17)
Rwanda's first ever sitting volleyball appearance at the Paralympics is still drawing in the attention of mass media throughout the world. However, their performance on the court is still under developed, and much more work is needed to avoid last place as they fell in 3 sets to China.
NED 1 - 3 UKR
(24-26, 25-15, 11-25, 19-25)
Ukraine's recent form over the last two years has superseded the Dutch, and on this occasion, it was no different. Although the Netherlands had one set point in the first set, the Ukrainians managed to take the first set. The Netherlands took the next set, however, Ukraine played without restrain as they won the match 3-1.
GBR 3 - 0 MAR
(25-20, 25-19, 25-12)
Great Britain's sitting volleyball programme commenced in 2007 and the first major international competition was the 2009 European Championship, where they lost every single set. The first ever win for a GB team was at the next European Championships in 2009 when they defeated Greece. In 2012, they won their first ever Paralympic match. They were always in control of the match, and Morocco were never in the lead at any point.
SLO 2 - 3 BRA
(17-25, 28-30, 25-19, 25-21, 7-15)
Another exciting match took place at the sitting volleyball arena, at the South Hall of the Excel centre. In a back and forth match, Brazil's first Paralympic victory was a roller-coaster for both teams. Brazil came out all guns blazing in the first set. In the second set, despite a surge of points by the Slovenians, the Brazilians found a way back into the game in the latter stages of the match. The money line proved to be important parts of the match for the next two sets too. The start of the fifth set was a close encounter, but it wasn't long before Brazil pulled away and made their Paralympic debut with at least one win. Following their previous match against China, where they took a set from the Paralympic champions, Brazil do not look like a beginners team.
GBR 0 - 3 JPN
(11-25, 21-25, 14-25)
A third debut Paralympic team win was not meant to be this time, as Japan destroyed the hosts, Great Britain in sitting volleyball. The playing time lasted exactly one hour.
EGY 2 - 3 RUS
(25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 21-25, 11-15)
Russia came from 2 sets down to win the match over the world's 4th seed. After Russia's lost the previous night, they seem to have a desire to win.
kwok ng
london2012.com
Day 3 Summary
Some surprising plays as Russia lose to Germans and Brazil take a set off the Chinese
CHN 3 - 1 BRA
(26-24, 25-15, 20-25, 25-16)
Brazil opened their Paralympic campaign with a match against reigning world and Paralympic champion, China. Surprising the Chinese, they were able to pile on pressure up until the first and then second technical time out, but then China were able to clearly accelerate away, and pushed China to a two points different. The second set, China were playing well and never lost the lead. In the third set, there was a tight contest, as Brazil started off with a lead, that they defended well against to take the third ever set that China has lost in three Paralympic games. In return, China showed no hesitation to finish off the match.
RUS 2 - 3 GER
(18-25, 25-11, 19-25, 25-15, 15-13)
A spectacular match between the European teams. Both teams played a tight game up until the first technical time out, where the eventual set winners started to extend their leads. In the 5th and final decider set, the time first to 15 points win the match. Sitting volleyball is so exciting, that even though RUS stormed into a 5 point lead at the beginning of the set, GER were able to stay within distance of going all the way with them. At 12-13, Germany scored an ace to give them their first match point, with which they duly took. The Bronze medallist from Beijing have lost against the lowest ranked European team, demonstrating the closeness of standards between the European zone.
IRI 3 - 0 CHN
(25-15, 25-19, 25-12)
The Iranian Men sitting volleyball team took one hour and one minute to beat the Chinese team. The match between the Asian nations showed how much of a difference is between the top two nations in the Asian continent.
GBR 0 - 3 NED
(25-13, 25-12, 25-15)
Great Britain's second match of the Paralympics was against the previous bronze medallist, Netherlands. As with the first match, GB did badly to begin with and never recovered back. The second set started well with GB gaining three quick points including an ace. It was then that the Netherlands managed to get back into the game with strong serving the Head coach's daughter and then to go on to win the set and the 3rd.
USA 3 - 0 SLO
(25-8, 25-15, 25-8)
Team USA beat two time semi finalists Slovenia in exactly one hour with 14 aces. The Americans took complete control of the match as Slovenia never managed to achieve more than two consecutive points.
BIH 3 - 0 BRA
(25-14, 25-21, 25-19)
The current European champions, Bosnia were successful in beating the Parapan American games winner Brazil in just under 75mins.
Kwok Ng
london2012.com
Day 2 Summary
British teams start and end spectacular day at the Excel South Centre.
GBR 0 - 3 UKR
(9-25, 20-25, 14-25)
Much press publicity was placed on the Great Britain women's team as they played their first ever Paralympic Volleyball match. They were due to face a mammoth task when playing against the World Championships 2010 Bronze Medallist and European Champions, Ukraine.
What could have been nerves in the first set, Ukraine had 6 unanswered points before GB scored their first point. A start that is always difficult to overcome as Ukraine powered ahead to win the first set comfortably. The second set, GB started off slowly, this time 5 points behind the Ukrainians. The lead was double when Ukraine led 20-10. However a series of 5 strong serves by Claire Harvey brought the scoreline a little be closer, but the distance was still too far apart as Ukraine won 25-20. the third set was difficult for the home team playing first thing in the morning, however it was their first ever time competing at the Paralympics and the first GB women sitting volleyball match at the Paralympics.
GER 3 - 0 MAR
(25-11, 25-10, 25-9)
There were no real surprises in this match, as the European team dominated and did not give up against the Moroccans. Germany scored a total of 12 aces in the three sets.
BRA 3 - 0 RWA
(25-5, 25-5, 25-13)
Rwanda were constantly found to be making errors upon errors, before handing Brazil the match. This is the second loss by Rwanda.
CHN 3 - 1 USA
(23-25, 32-30, 25-23, 25-17)
What could be the most exciting game of the day, (apart from the heroics of the Mayor of London - Boris Johnson and actress celebrity Barbara Windsor on the demonstration of their sport skills on the court) was the repeat of the 2008 Paralympic and 2010 World Championships Finals. In the two previous encounters China had not lost a single set, however, in this pool play, USA took the first set, had two set points in the 2nd set, were neck and neck in the 3rd, before collapsing in the 4th set. If these two teams make it to the Finals, this could become the most ever spectacular match seen on any sitting volleyball court.
NED 3 - 1 JPN
(22-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-14)
Japan came from 19-12 behind in the first set to take the first set of their Paralympic campaign. The 2008 Bronze medallists, Netherlands, had other things on their mind, as they overturned the deficit to take the next three sets comfortably.
GBR 0 - 3 EGY
(15-25, 17-25, 22-25)
The second game for the GB men was the last match of the first full day of sitting volleyball at the Excel Centre, South. In almost the same fashion as against the Russians a day earlier, GB demonstrated progress on the court against the opponents, with the closest to their opponents at 17-19 in the third set. However, the experience of the Egyptians prevailed as they celebrated their second victory of the Paralympics.
kwok ng
london2012.com
2012-08-31
Day 1 Summary
Russia hold on against progressive hosts
GBR 0 - 3 RUS
(15-25, 17-25, 20-25)
Excel, London
Russia started their men sitting volleyball campaign with a 3-0 win over hosts Great Britain in the opening match of the Sitting Volleyball competition.
Other results of the day include;
BIH 3 - 0 CHN
(26-24, 25-21, 25-17)
EGY 3 - 0 MAR
(25-10, 25-12, 25-22)
IRI 3 - 0 RWA
(25-11, 25-6, 25-8)
Summary: The top four teams from 4 years ago in Beijing won their matches of the day convincingly in straight sets. Only did the Bosnian team look a little bit unprepared, as they were challenged by China who had 1 set point in the first set. After saving the point and going on to win the set, Bosnia were once again threatened by the Chinese team. After the second technical time out, Bosnia surged forward to take the set and the subsequent set comfortably.
In the battle of northern Africa, the Egyptians were always in control of the match.
Rwanda made their debut today, playing the reigning Paralympic and World Champions, Iran. It took the winner of the Sub-Sahara region 6 points in the first set to score a point, and double that (12 points) before opening their scoring for each set.
Kwok Ng
london2012.com
2012-08-30
kwok ng