In their first appearance at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Russia defeated China 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) in the Men's Sitting Volleyball pool A match at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium on Monday.
China fought hard in each set with good blocking technique, but their offense did not work well.
Russia's attackers made many mistakes, spiking out of the court or into the net. Nevertheless, they knew how to focus in the key moments, blocking well and setting up the game well to smash the ball onto the Chinese court.
China was playing energetically at the beginning of the first set and overwhelmed Russia half of the time before the Russian team seized the lead, taking advantage of a series of faults and errors from the Chinese side.
Zhang Zhongmin of China, the best scorer of the match, with 14 points, had some trouble with the antenna, where two spikes and one serve landed, handing crucial points to Russia. A spike by Viktor Milenin of Russia closed the first set 25-22.
China chased Russia from a short distance in the second set. They organized their game and reacted quickly to Russia's attacks, until Russia's Alexander Baychik hit a shot to secure the set 25-22.
Gao Hui of China gave his team its first point as well as the initial lead in the third set. Russia did not find their rhythm until the end, when the possibility of losing the set was in sight.
A string of breathtaking rallies led to the end of the match when Russia's Alexander Savichev and Andrey Lavrinovich sealed the victory with two spikes.
(BOCOG September 8, 2008)