Russia in stunning volleyball triumph

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Russia became the first team in the history of men's Olympic volleyball to win the final from two sets down as they stunned Brazil at Earls Court.

For the best part of three sets the Europeans looked a shadow of the side which had demolished Bulgaria in the semis, lumbering around the court as Brazil picked points at will.
So easy was their march to victory that at 2-0 and 22-19 they sent on retiring captain Giba - a virtual spectator in London due to injury - to allow him the privilege of being in court when the medal was won.
That proved to be the worst move they could have made as Russia, clearly furious about such a display of disrespect, embarked on one of the most staggering comebacks the sport has seen to wrap up a fourth Olympic volleyball title.
This was the first not won under the USSR name, though, and could in part be put down to the performance of Dmitriy Muserskiy.
Whether he was offended by the Giba substitution or not, he somehow found a whole new level of brutality at the net, using every inch of his 7ft 2in frame to plunder a match-winning 31 points.
On the other side, Brazil were no longer quick around the court and the previously-excellent Sergio could not feed Bruno who would in turn tee up Wallace and Murilo at the net.
The change was remarkable and a far cry from the start of the game when Brazil were desperate to ride the wave of support started by their victorious female counterparts on Saturday. When the two teams were announced, the overwhelming backing belonged to the South Americans.
They made sure they fed off it too, getting out to 8-5 in front when the first time-out arrive, mixing some thunderous hitting from Wallace with some more delicate touches from Murilo as Russia failed to settle.
It was not due to a lack of trying, but more down to the ruthlessness with which Brazil were moving around the court. The reception of Sergio was precise, the setting of Bruno fast and the hitting of Wallace and Murilo unrelenting as they moved to 15-9.
There was no stopping the duo - even a run of three Russia points on the serve of Sergey Tetyukhin made no difference - and when Wallace spiked his fifth point of the set, Brazil took it 25-19.
There was no let-up at the start of the second set either, despite Russia getting an early jump to 2-0. A brilliant block from Sidnei made it 2-2 and then the fine serving of he and Wallace got their side firmly in command at 8-4.
A theme had certainly emerged, with Russia doing their best to hit Brazil off the court only to be denied by Sergio, whose stunning defensive work would pave the way to a thunderous winner at the net.
The score got out to 22-17 when Dante Amaral's kill block won a back-and-forth thriller and, when the same player cracked a spike off Maxim Mikhaylov's fingertips, the set was won 25-20.
Knowing the grave nature of their situation, there appeared to be a greater steel about Russia at the start of the third set and they led at the first time-out, with Muserskiy finally imposing himself on the game with two telling spikes as they edged to 8-7.
A winner and a kill from Sidnei and then a pair of spikes from Wallace spun the set back around in Brazil's favour and, although Sergey Grankin blocked to level at 15-all, Murilo got Brazil ahead at the second time-out.
It was all or nothing for Russia, though, and as Brazil shook a little they pounced, recovering from 22-19 to 22-all and then, despite letting two set points slip through their fingers, eventually took it 29-27 when Muserskiy got an error out of Murilo.
The tables had turned at the start of the fourth, with Russia dictating the pace and picking up points on their own terms, with Maxim Mikhaylov's blocking putting them 8-7 up at the first break.
They continued to dominate after that, leading 15-12 when Brazil were hauled off the court for time-out, with serves going long and spikes persistently shut down.
It was one-way traffic and Russia duly took the set 25-22 before opening up a 3-1 lead in the decider when Amaral hit long.
And when in the fifth set a block from unsuspecting libero Alexey Obmochaev dropped in as a winner, the game was up at 12-6 and eventually Russia closed it out at 15-9.

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Brazil win volleyball; Japan take bronze

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Brazil retained their Olympic volleyball title courtesy of a simply brilliant final performance against the United States at Earls Court.

In a repeat of the 2008 Beijing showpiece, the South Americans once again got the better of their arch-rivals, seeing them off by the very score that was good enough four years ago (11-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17).
As a result, America's wait for volleyball gold goes on - this was their 10th failed attempt - and they have only got themselves to blame.
Japan took the bronze medal in the women's Olympic volleyball by securing a straight-sets success over South Korea in their all-Asian clash at Earls Court.
Masayoshi Manabe's side appeared to want the glory more than their rivals, displaying a greater appetite from the first point as they wrapped up a first Games podium finish since 1984 with the 25-22 26-24 25-21 win.
They stifled Kim Yeon-koung - South Korea's go-to hitter - throughout, with the 24-year-old appearing battle weary having carried her nation through to the last four with a string of stunning performances.
She did score 22 points but her intensity was well below what it has been for the last fortnight, with her approaches to the net seemingly more out of duty than desire.
And, with Japan on the top of the game as they chased a sixth Olympic volleyball medal, South Korea were rarely in the game over the course of the 90 minutes.
Soari Sakoda top-scored with 23 points for Japan, who won the game despite not picking up a single point on the block.
So clean was their hitting and transition that they did not need to do anything in defence at the net, being out-scored by eight points to nil.
But they did crucially register 53 points to 38 on the spike, always having enough to pull clear whenever South Korea looked like mounting a challenge.

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US meet Brazil in women's volleyball final

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Not even the brilliance of Kim Yeong-koun could stop the United States from booking their place in a third Olympic volleyball final with a 3-0 win.

Kim has carried South Korea through the tournament, getting them out of a testing group and then single-handedly destroying Italy in the quarter-finals.
But on Thursday it was a game too far for the 24-year-old who was powerless to stop the relentless American front line, with Hugh McCutcheon's side putting themselves three sets away from what would be a first-ever gold medal after the (25-20 25-22 25-22) win.
Kim was restricted to just 20 points - a low score for her - as the States built a near-impenetrable wall at the net, winning 11 points on the block.
Destinee Hooker, the player of the tournament, again led the way for McCutcheon, top-scoring with 24 points, while her usual partners in crime were not too far away, with Foluke Akinradewo adding 12 and Jordan Larson 14.
Statistically there was actually little to choose between the sides apart from on the block, with the main difference being America's ability to string points together at crucial times.
It was point-for-point through to 15-all in the first set until some dogged defence from Lindsey Berg allowed them to win a point they had no right to. From there, they won three in a row and put the first set to bed.
The second followed a similar pattern, before Kim took a hold and helped South Korea edge ahead to 20-17. They could not preserve it, however, with the speed of Berg's serves allowing the likes of Larson and Hooker to pick and choose when they found the floor.
The third set was more of a routine affair with South Korea clearly beaten apart from a mini-resurgence in the middle stages, with Logan Tom wrapping things up with a spike that flew off the hands of Kim Hae-Ran.
Later, defending champions Brazil set up a repeat of the 2008 Olympic volleyball final with the United States by seeing off Japan in straight sets (25-18 25-15 25-18) on Thursday night.
The South Americans have been slow burners this tournament, only scraping through the group stages at the death, but have come into their own since the knockout stages begun.
They subjected Russia to their first defeat of 2012 in the quarter-finals and tonight disposed of a Japan side who had also had to scrap their way to the last four.
China were their quarter-final victims in a five-set struggle and they still seemed to be feeling the pace tonight as Brazil had too much size and strength for them to handle.
The Japanese opt for a quick and subtle style owing to their lack of height and against sides of a similar nature, such as China, that can prove beneficial.
But against Brazil their agility and nimbleness counted for little as they were thumped out of sight, with the likes of Sheilla (13 points) and Thaisa (12) utterly dominant at the net.
There was much to be pleased about for the Americans, but perhaps the most satisfying element was the fitness of Berg.
A huge doubt after suffering a knee injury four days ago, she managed to take to the court as though nothing had ever been wrong. Her setting was impeccable throughout and she now has the chance to retire with a gold medal to her name.
"I feel okay now, my team helped me a lot. I don't need to run around. Saturday I will play my best. If after the match I can't walk, I will still try to fight, but I don't care if I can't walk so long as we win," she said.
"We didn't play our best in the tournament so far today [Thursday]. Hopefully we will play our best in the gold medal match. We did play better after we reached 20 points."
For his part, Korea coach Kim Hyung-Sil had complaints about the outcome.
"USA played like a number one team," he said.
"They had the height, speed and the ability to adjust on court. Our blocks were poor, which meant we did not perform. We now need to work for the bronze medal. Whether we play Brazil or Japan. We still need to improve."

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Germany stun Brazil to win beach volleyball

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Germany stunned world champions Brazil to take gold in the beach volleyball - the first Europeans to become Olympic champions.

Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann won by two sets to one, 23-21 16-21 16-14, but it took them five match points to settle the contest.
It meant there was no fairytale for Brazil's Emanuel Rego - the 39-year-old who won gold in 2004 and bronze in 2008 was competing in his fifth Olympics - and Alison Cerutti.
Reckermann said: "It's unbelieveable - they have been the best team for the last few years and Emanuel is a living legend but we knew we had a chance."
Rego will be 43 when the 2016 Games take place in Rio de Janeiro, in his home country Brazil, but he said he may target a home Games.
Rego said: "What a final... it was intense and fantastic in front of 15,000 people. It was a good battle and the Germans did really well and I think if we had won the first set it would have gone our way.
"It's difficult to say what will happen for 2016 but this silver tastes very, very good."
Latvian pair Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins took bronze - their country's first medal of London 2012 - in a surprise 2-1 victory over Holland's Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schull.
Plavins said: "It was our dream to win a medal in the Olympics and now we have done it and can't really believe we did it.
"No-one believed before we came here that we were going to win a medal."

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USA set for Italian match-up

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Defending champions the United States will meet Italy in the quarter-finals of the men's Olympic volleyball competition.

Alan Knipe's men wrapped their round-robin campaign up with a 3-0 win against Tunisia today to top Pool B, while Italy finished fourth in A.
Bulgaria topped their pool after winning a straight shoot-out with Italy today and will face Germany - 3-0 losers to Brazil, although they did rest star man Gyorgy Grozer.
Poland were runners-up to Bulgaria despite losing to Australia this morning [Monday] and will meet Russia, while Brazil and Argentina will also square up.
Australia, Great Britain, Serbia and Tunisia are the four sides to make an early exit.
Russia's Maxim Mikhaylov ended the group stage as the leading scorer with 93 points, just two more than Australia's Thomas Edgar, while Dami Bakare was Great Britain's best with 46.
Germany's Markus Steurwald was rated as the competition's best libero - Britain's Dan Hunter was a credible fourth - while Russia's 6ft 8in Marko Padrascanin returned a top-scoring 81 blocks.

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Australia stun favourites Poland

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Australia pulled off a shock 3-1 victory over tournament favourites Poland in the men's Olympic volleyball tournament on Monday morning.

However, it still may not be enough to see them through to the last eight.
The Volleyroos were given little chance against their in-form European rivals but upset the odds to see them off over four sets. In the process, they avoided surrendering a two-set lead like they did against Italy on Saturday.
They now sit fourth in Pool A but, should Argentina beat Great Britain by any margin, the Australians' tournament will be over. A 3-0 or 3-1 victory for the host nation, though, would send Australia into the last eight.
Thomas Edgar used all of his 6ft 11in frame to stand toe-to-toe with the fearsome Poland frontline and struck 26 points while doing so, with able support coming from Nathan Roberts who added 18.
Russia all but snuffed out Serbia's hopes of reaching the last eight of the men's volleyball tournament, seeing off their European rivals in three sets  (25-15, 25-20, 25-17).
Aleksandar Atanasijevic top-scored for them with 18 points, but found little support from his team-mates, with no other player reaching double figures.
Maxim Mikhaylov also plundered 18 for Russia, but it was on the block where they stole a march on their opponents, killing the ball 15 times to five.
Bulgaria secured top billing in Pool A of the men's Olympic volleyball by beating Italy 3 - 0 (30-32 20-25 19-25).
The European rivals clashed at Earls Court with first place available and, thanks largely to the work of Tsvetan Sokolov, it was Bulgaria who took it.
He scored 21 of their 82 points in total - Ivan Zaytsev was Italy's lead man with 15 - and was ably supported by some brilliant blocking at the net.
As a result of the defeat, Italy are third in the group and, should Argentina defeat Great Britain 3-0 or 3-1, will end up in fourth and having to face the top-ranked side from Pool B.
Bulgaria end with four wins from five - their one loss against Argentina - while Italy finish the round-robin stages with a three-from-five record.
Great Britain's men were left to mull over an Olympic volleyball campaign that did not yield even a set win as Argentina whitewashed them 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-15) in their final group game on Monday afternoon.
Harry Brokking's squad of inexperienced underdogs arrived in London with quiet ambitions of reaching the quarter-finals but a combination of slapdash play, inconsistency and simply coming up against better opponents has undone them.
Their golden chance was against Australia last Tuesday and, when they lost that 3-0, it was clear this was not the tournament for them at this stage of their development. Formed just six years ago, they have exceeded expectations by being moderately competitive in the capital, but still have some way to go.
Questions will be asked about legacy - maybe more so that of the women's side owing to the fact they at least won a game - and also about the future of Brokking, who has a number of offers to coach overseas.
But there are still positives to take from their campaign. Star man Dami Bakare eventually arrived at the party after a slow, nerve-riddled start - he was as brilliant today as he was against Poland on Saturday - while the likes of libero Dan Hunter and Nathan French also end in credit.
Beating Argentina had never been Brokking's aim before the tournament - Australia and Bulgaria were the sides he had targeted - and so it panned out, with the South Americans overhauling Australia for the final qualifying place in Pool A in the process.

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McMahon kicks her boots up

Melbourne Vixens co-captain Sharelle McMahon has announced via social media networking site Twitter, that shes thrown away her boot.
McMahon suffered a season ending Achilles rupture on March 31, in Vixens round eight loss to the Queensland Firebirds.
Within days of a surgical repair, a heartbroken McMahon announced the end of her World Championships prospects, but held off from making any disclosures about her career.
She wore a protective moon boot after the surgery on April 1.
In the wake of the injury, surgery and subsequent rehabilitation, public sympathy was enormous, with fans and team mates urging the star netballer not to give up hope of a return.
The Australian captain became the first netballer and only fourth woman to carry the Australian flag into the Commonwealth Games, last year in Delhi.
As part of her rehabilitation, McMahon began light work at the gym two weeks ago. She announced the good news from her surgeon in a series of tweets late Tuesday.
My visit to surgeon today: Him: Looks great, did you bring your shoes? Me: No, why? Him: You can walk now. No boot. Me: Whaaaaat?! Wooo!!
Needless to say, it was a great report...now to slowly build up calf which has disappeared & gradually use the boot less & less. Worlds??
Team mates Renae Hallinan and Tegan Caldwell immediately responded.
Great news Sharazza! Even though the boot was becoming quite the fashion accessory- I'm glad we can slowly say our goodbyes! Hallinan said.
Caldwell tweeted, so excited!!! That's awesome!!
In other news, Netball Australia will announce the World Championship selection squad in a week.

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