Three-time Olympic champion Cuba upset host China in a five-game thriller in front of over 13,000 frenzied spectators at the Capital Indoor Stadium Wednesday.
Zhou Suhong of China slams a shot from Cuba's Nancy Carrillo De La Paz during the match. Cuba defeated China 3-2. [Agencies] |
The defending champion squandered a two-game lead to lose 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 30-32, 13-15 after nearly two hours of intense battle.
The two teams have been rivals since the 1990s, with Cuba having a better head-to-head record, winning 30 out of 47 clashes.
Four years ago in Athens, China lost to Cuba 2-3 in the preliminaries, but knocked it out in the semifinals en route to the title.
Both teams believed they played a highly competitive match. Said Cuba coach Antonio Perdomo: "It was a spectacular show. China played better than us according to the statistics and China showed their resilience from the start.
"I don't know who will win in the next match. I sincerely hope that China can reach the final. The two teams really have a very deep friendship."
Cuba captain Yumilka Ruiz was happy to get their third win, which will place them on top of Group A.
She said: "China is a very strong team. It was a tough game today. We are so happy to beat China on their soil.
"We could not focus on our game at the start because of the deafening cheers from the crowd, but we soon got used to it and won the match."
Though they lost, Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe is still confident that they can retain their title.
He said: "It is really a tough match and we both delivered our best play. After losing the third game, we could not grab the key points. Cuba is more experienced dealing with the key points and seizing opportunities.
"It is good for us, to be battling such a strong rival in preliminaries. We should keep moving on and looking for more wins."
In earlier Group A matches, Venezuela lost to the United States. In Group B, Italy continued its winning ways by thrashing Algeria. Athens silver medalist Russia also whipped Kazakhstan.
World No 1 Brazil swept Serbia.
