Once again it was Wallace de Souza and Ricardo Lucarelli Santos de Souza who were the star men for the Brazilians at the Spodek hall in Katowice, with 14 and 13 points respectively, in a 25-15, 25-21, 25-21 win which was their sixth-in-a-row in Poland.

"The key of the victory was the experience," said a satisfied Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende.

"We saw how they played against Russia and Canada.

"We started aggressively to let them always behind.

"We played with some good skills, but there are still some elements that need to be improved. Bulgaria [will] play better; volleyball is a game of different elements and we are now trying to get the best of these elements.

"Tomorrow we're playing a difficult game with China and we need to focus on that as we suffered in the first round against another Asian team, [South] Korea."

Bernardo Rezende's Brazilian side remain on course for a fourth consecutive world title ©Getty Images




The second match in Katowice was also a one sided affair as Germany overcame China 25 - 19, 25 -22, 25-17 to sit third in Pool F behind Russia and Brazil.

The Russians handed out a lesson to Finland at the Halla Stulecia in Wroclaw as they powered to a 25-10, 25-18, 25-16 victory, while the other match in Pool F went the way of Canada who remain fourth after a 3-2 win over Cuba.

Meanwhile, the United States inflicted the first defeat of the Championships on hosts Poland at the Atlas Arena in Łódź.

The US took the first two sets 29-27, 25-22 but were pegged back 27-25 in the third as the Poles threatened a comeback.

But it was not to be as the Americans squeezed home in the fourth 25-23 to knock Poland off the summit of Pool E.

Canada came through a five set battle with Cuba to remain in contention in Pool F ©Getty Images



They are replaced by France, who picked up their third win of the Championships at the Łuczniczka in Bydgoszcz by overcoming Argentina 25-21, 17-25, 29-27, 25-18.

The second match in Bydgoszcz also had a 3-1 scoreline as Australia's search for a first win continues following a 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17 loss to Iran, who remain fourth in Pool E.

The Iranians are headed by Serbia, who brought proceedings in Łódź to a close with a straight forward 25-19, 29-27, 25-22 win.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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