Japan bounced back from a shock defeat at the hands of Azerbaijan yesterday to breeze past Belgium 3-1.

The three-time world champions and London 2012 Olympic bronze medallists were left stunned yesterday after the Azeris fought back twice to seal a 3-2 victory on the opening day of fixtures.

A second day of upset was far from the cards at the PalaFlorio in Bari today, however, as Ebata Yukiko led her team to a 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory with a game-high 29 points.

"This victory is very important because it redeems the defeat of yesterday," said Japanese captain Saori Kimura.

"It is very important to focus for the following matches.

"We have regained our fighting spirit."

Hosts Italy, world number ones Brazil, defending champions Russia, China and The Netherlands all retained impeccable records in Italy having dropped not a single set so far in the tournament.

Italy continued to impress the home fans as they recorded their second straight 3-0 victory with a win over Croatia ©Getty Images



Italy flew to a 3-0 win over Croatia in Rome to continue their impressive streak at the Championship.

Despite a close opener, the Croatian defence crumbled in the second and third sets as the side fell to a 26-24, 25-15, 25-11 defeat in just over an hour.

Africa's leading nation, Cameroon, were left in no man's land in their fixture with double Olympic champions Brazil as the South Americans ran riot to seal a straights sets win.

Fielding their second-string team in the early periods, Brazil stormed to a 10-1 lead, before surging to a 25-14, 25-15, 25-18 win.

Height and power was the obvious difference between Russia and Mexico in their second day encounter as two-time defending champions Russia continued their 100 per cent record in Verona.

Height and power was the key to Russia's success over Mexico as they won 3-0
©Getty Images



Azerbaijan were flung back to reality with a bang on day two of the World Championship as they fell to a straight sets, 25-13, 25-16, 25-17 defeat to China in Bari.

Zeng Chunlei and Hui Ruoqi led China with 14 points each

Four Dutch players, Celeste Plak, Robin De Kruijf, Judith Pietersen and Anne Buijs, all scored 10 points each in The Netherlands' 3-0 win over Thailand as they look on course for progression in Pool C.

As well as Russia, the United States will likely be joining The Netherlands as one of the leading three teams in Pool C as they recorded a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan to continue their unbeaten streak.

Day two saw the Dominican Republic and Serbia also improve their records to 2-0 while Germany, Turkey and Puerto Rico booked their first wins of the tournament.

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