Both teams suffered defeats in their latest Pool F encounters in Verona, leaving defending champions Russia one point behind Serbia ahead of their crunch meeting tomorrow.

The Russians were beaten by Brazil 17-25, 27-25, 19-25, 25-27, while the Serbians lost out to the United States 22-25, 20-25, 22-25.

The US and Brazil, who occupy first and second place respectively, face each other to decide the winner of the Pool with just one point separating the two teams.

In the Pool's two other matches in Modena, Turkey made it back-to-back victories by overcoming The Netherlands 23-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20 and Bulgaria won 25-22, 25-15, 25-13 against Kazakhstan.

China look in ominous form ahead of the third round ©Getty Images



Meanwhile in Pool E, leaders China retained their unbeaten record by beating the Dominican Republic 25-19, 25-19, 22-25, 20-25, 15-10 in Bari.

Despite the defeat, the Dominicans qualified for the third round after hosts Italy cruised to a 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 victory against Japan in the same city. 

China and Italy, both on 16 points, go head-to-head for top spot in the final round of fixtures.

In the Pool's two other encounters in Trieste, Germany sailed to a 25-20, 25-15, 25-21 win over Belgium, while Azerbaijan got the better of Croatia in a 23-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-23 triumph.