Brazil upset hosts China 3-1 in women's volleyball Grand Prix finals

 NINGBO, Zhejiang Province, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Olympic Champions Brazil upset China 3-1 on Thursday for their second straight win at the 2012 women's volleyball Grand Prix finals in Ningbo city, east China.

Brazil had 17 successful blocks while China had only eight. Menezes Thaisa and Castro Sheilla scored 18 points each to lead the game, Claudino Fabiana added 14.

The top scorer of China is Hui Ruoqi, who contributed 13 points, including 11 kills and two ace¹ serves.

The Brazilians, gold medallist of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, jumped to an 8-3 lead in the opening stage, forcing China headcoach Yu Juemin to call time-out twice in less than 10 minutes.

When the game resumed², Hui led the Chinese team to fight back with a 4-1 run to level the game at 12-all.

But Brazil soon got the upper hand back with their solid defense³ and maintained⁴ the narrow lead to 21-16. Sheilla's kills from the right side of the net moved Brazil to the set point.

The two teams played more consistently⁵ in the second set where China established an early lead 10-6 after a 4-0 run led by middle blocker Xu Yunli.

Zhang Lei helped hold the lead with a couple of shots and a good block as the Chinese team pushed the game to 15-10. Brazil tried to cut the deficit⁶ at 21-23 but Fan Linlin's kill gave China the set point and an out-of-court shot from Brazil player allowed China to claw one set back at 25-21.

China fought hard early in the third set and managed to stay up at 7-5, but Brazil soon answered with a 3-0 run to lead into the first TTO at 8-7. The firm blocks from Brazil helped them extend⁷ the lead to 16-10 as Fabiana and Sheilla combined to stop China's attack several times over the net. At 24-17, Thaisa again refused a spike⁸ from Hui to put Brazil ahead in sets again.

The Brazilian women started strongly against the hosts, racing⁹ to an 6-0 lead in the fourth and improved it to 16-7 at the second TTO. China made some substitutions as Chu Jinlin came off the bench to score three points in a row to help China pull with 11-16.

But Brazil cruised¹⁰ to victory at 25-18 by running off four of the last six points and sealed the match in one hour 39 minutes.

After the match, Yu said that the opposite hitter Zeng Chunlei's absence left the Chinese team a large gap¹¹ on court.

"Today our receiving was not stable, and because one of our right-wing attackers was injured before the match, we had to rely heavily on the left-side attacking. Unfortunately, Brazil knew that clearly and found the way to deal with it," said Yu.

1 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。

2 resumed   

v.重新开始( resume的过去式和过去分词 )；重新获得；重新占用；恢复

参考例句：

• Play resumed quickly after the stoppage. 比赛中断后不久又继续进行。
• The violinist resumed playing after the intermission. 幕间休息之后，那小提琴手又重新开始演奏。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 maintained   

保持( maintain的过去式和过去分词 )； 保养； 坚持； 保卫

参考例句：

• He maintained a professional demeanour throughout. 他始终保持着专业人才的风度。
• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。

5 consistently   

ad.一贯地，一直

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。
• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law. 部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。

6 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

7 extend   

v.伸开；展开，伸展；扩大；加大

参考例句：

• Can you extend your visit for a few days more?你能把你的访问再延长几天吗？
• The examinations extend over two weeks.考试持续两个星期。

8 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

9 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

10 cruised   

v.乘船巡游( cruise的过去式和过去分词 )；以快而平稳的速度长距离行驶；巡航；轻而易举赢得（或获得）

参考例句：

• They cruised along in top gear . 他们驾车高速行驶。
• The coastguard cutter cruised along the coast looking for smugglers. 水上警察缉私船沿海巡逻搜寻走私犯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 gap   

n.缺口；间隔；差距；不足，缺陷

参考例句：

• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。
• There is a gap of five miles between towns.镇与镇之间相隔五英里。