Volleyball: Russia hand Egypt their eighth World Cup defeat

Mahmoud Elassal , Friday 18 Sep 2015

Egypt
(Photo: FIVB)

Egypt have suffered their eighth defeat at Japan's Volleyball World Cup, losing 3-0 against Russia (25-20, 26-24, 25-18) on Friday.

The Pharaohs have failed to win a game since the start of the tournament, losing to Japan, Canada, Italy, Australia, the USA, Argentina, and Poland.

"I used my match today to prepare my team and to get experience because we have upcoming matches against Tunisia, Venezuela and Iran," Egypt coach Nehad Shehata said after the game.

"We know Russia is a strong team with good players, so I used this match to give my players experience and to prepare my team for the next round in Tokyo."

"We played well today, especially in the second set, but the main difference was between an experienced team and a non-experienced team and experienced players and non-experienced players," the tactician concluded.

Russia coach Vladimir Alekno praised the services of Egypt's players throughout the game despite the victory.

"As we won, it’s good. They (Egypt) pressured us a lot with their services so it was hard to catch up with them, but it was a good lesson for us to face these good serves," Alekno said.

Egypt, who are targeting a better rank from the championship, eyeing the eighth or the seventh place, are still 11th, while Russia are now second after seven wins.

The eight-time African champions' captain, Ahmed Abdel-Hay, remains the tournament's top scorer with 146 points (148 spike, 4 blocks and 12 serves), eight ahead of Facundo Conte of Argentina.

"Our team played well today, better than yesterday, but they were able to use the experience of their players to finish the second set," Abdel-Hay said.

"They had good service and blocking and this was the difference between players with experience and players who don’t have experience. But we played better and this will help us for our matches in Tokyo," he added.

Egypt are expected to win their first game in the World Cup when they take on 12th-ranked Tunisia on Monday. They will face Venezuela, ranked ninth, on Tuesday, ending the tournament against seventh-placed Iran on Wednesday.

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