No. 14 Iran have become a Cinderalla team of tournament while No. 10 China and No. 12 Egypt proved Friday that the game is played on the court, not on paper or in the past.

Iran, despite being the second lowest ranked team in the tournament, have started the FIVB World Cup with an improbable 4-1 record under legendary head coach Julio Velasco, who just took over the helm of the Iran program this summer. Iran have posted wins over host No. 18 Japan (3-1), No. 5 Serbia (3-2), No. 8 Poland (3-2) and No. 9 Argentina (3-2). Iran’s only loss was a three-set loss to No. 6 Cuba.

“Our mentality is changed,” Iran captain Alireza Nadi said in regards to the team’s success since Velasco took over as head coach. “Everybody is working together for one goal. We have gained good experience from recent tournaments we played in.”

While not enjoying quite the same success as Iran in the win column, China extended No. 1 Brazil to five sets and Egypt took a set off No. 2 Russia on Friday.

Entering their match with Brazil, China had not won a single set in their first four matches with losses to No. 2 Russia, No. 3 Italy, No. 4 USA and Egypt. However, China opened their match with Brazil on fire and gained a 16-11 margin by the second technical timeout. Brazil mounted a comeback to within one at 19-18, but China maintained the lead to a 25-23 victory. Brazil quieted the China attack in the second and third sets. 

Yet, China’s offense re-emerged late in the fourth set to take a 25-19 victory sending the match to a fifth set tiebreaker. Brazil built a 7-2 lead in the fifth set and went on to win 15-8 to squelch the upset bid. China did come away with their first point in the standings by forcing the fifth set and limited Brazil to just two points.

“This is a good day for us because this is China’s first point in World Cup so far,” China captain Chen Ping said. “Even though it’s just one point and doesn’t make a difference, but for us it is meaningful because up until now we couldn't play to our potential. But today against a top level team we showed we can compete.”

After losing the first two sets 25-18 and 25-17, No. 12 Egypt stunned No. 2 Russia with a 25-23 victory in the third set using several non-starters to prolong the match. Russia responded with a convincing 25-9 victory in the fourth set to win and still gain all three points.

“(Russia) have a lot of players better experienced than our players,” Egypt captain Ashraf Abouelhassan discussed after the match. “During the match when we received better, we won the third set. In the fourth set they pressed us with strong service and we had more reception mistakes, and they won fourth set and the match.”

Host Japan, the lowest ranked team in the tournament at No. 18, have also displayed they belong on the court next to the top teams in the world at the FIVB World Cup despite not having a win to their credit. In their first four matches, Japan stretched Argentina and Serbia to five sets before losing, along with going four sets with Iran. In Friday’s final match at Osaka, Japan won the opening set over tournament leader Poland 25-23 before falling in the next three sets.

On the conclusion of the second round and the first five days of competition, five teams hold 4-1 records. Poland top the list with 13 points, while Russia and Brazil hold 12 points. Italy rank fourth in the tournament with 11 points, followed by Iran with nine points. Cuba and Argentina have also earned nine points with 3-2 records to rank sixth and seventh overall. USA, having lost to all three top teams in the world, are in eighth place with a 2-3 record. Serbia and Egypt are 1-4 with three points, while Japan are in 11th place with two points and 0-5 record. China hold one point with today’s five-set loss to Brazil.

In a nutshell, the 2011 FIVB World Cup is showcasing arguably the most balanced, top-level event with all 12 teams capable of pulling an upset. With the Olympics set to take place in about eight months, the prognosis for an exciting London Games is excellent.

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Iran v USA

 

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Serbia v Russia

 

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Argentina v Brazil

 

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Poland v China

 

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Cuba v Italy

 

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Japan v Egypt

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Argentina v Russia

 

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Iran v Egypt

 

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Cuba v Brazil

 

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Poland v USA

 

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Japan v China

 

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Serbia v Italy

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Cuba v Russia

 

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Poland v Egypt

 

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Argentina v Italy

 

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Iran v China

 

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Japan v USA

 

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Serbia v Brazil