Macau Sport News

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The Chinese women's volleyball team arrived in Macao on Monday to contest in the 2005 World Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament Macao leg.

The Olympic gold-medalists will face Brazil, Germany and Poland standing in the way to the Macao title.

The Chinese team is to do their warming-ups from Tuesday to Thursday and then to take on Germany, Poland and Brazil on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.

The squad had claimed the title of the 2005 World Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament Ningbo leg Sunday with three straight wins.

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By Dado

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Women's Volleyball World Grand Prix is coming to the second week as the showdown between the defending champions Brazil and the Olympic champions China is in the spotlight in Macao.

China joins Brazil, Germany and Poland in Group E in the second round games, which are slated on July 1-3.

The top of the table clash between China and Brazil, two of the tournament's three unbeaten sides, is set to play on Sunday and both of the coaches refused to dope out an optimistic result.

China's coach Chen Zhonghe said three rivals in Macao are all quite strong and Brazil, who rallied from two sets down to beat China 3-2 in Switzerland early this month, poses a biggest threat on them.

Brazil, who survived seven match points to beat China 3-2 on June 12, seemingly failed to bring the confidence won from the big victory as Brazil's coach Treinador Principal kept a low tone on their next clash.

China, currently in first place after three matches, will play against Germany on the first day, against Poland on the second day and against the second placed Brazil on the final day.

Besides Group E in Macao, two more groups will play not-to-missed games in South Korea and the Philippines, which also feature some key contests including a match between the Pan American Cup winners Cuba and world champions Italy in Manila.

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China's Shenzhen Jianlibao, champion of the 2004 Chinese Super League, is to play Spanish soccer giant Barcelona here in August, organizers said on Thursday.

Cheung Lup Kuan, president of the hosting Macao Football Association, told a press conference here that the two teams will draw on August 3 to mark the reopening of the Macao Stadium.

The sports venue has been under reconstruction for the forthcoming East Asian Games, scheduled for October.

The football match will help the hosts to test the organizing capability for the Games, said Cheung, adding that it will also hopefully give a boost to Macao's football fancy.

Barcelona has pledged to bring all its talented players including De Assis Moreira Ronaldinho, a top Brazilian playmaker, to the duel.

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China beat Germany at the 2005 Women's Volleyball World Grand in Macau.

It's the first encounter between the two teams this season and China won easily, 3-0.
China opened its game slowly, climbing from 3-nothing to win the first set, 25-17.

In the second set, China led 2-0 thanks to Wang Yimei's serving. However, the Germans luanched a strong counter-attack, but failed to topple a strong Chinese squad and settled at 25-19.

China then extended its advantage to take the third set, 25-15.

In another match held earlier, Brazil, a strong title contender, defeated Poland 3-0.

China will meet Poland while Brazil faces Germany on Saturday night.

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Defending champions Brazil beat Germany in straight sets here on Saturday at the Macao leg of the 2005 World Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament.

It was the fifth straight win for the South Americans in the tournament and the second in Macao.

Carvalho Jaqueline scored 15 points to lead the Brazilians to the 25-16, 25-16 and 26-24 victory over the Germans as the team's captain Menezes Valeska added eight.

The South American powerhouse, who swept the European champion Poland 3-0 on the first day of the Macao's competitions, did not meet any resistance in the first two sets, taking just 39 minutes to make it 2-0 with double 25-16.

The German women came into the third set with a flying start asthey jumped to a 9-4 lead, but the Brazilians soon found back their rhythm to level it 10-10.

The German kept on holding the strong rivals and make the scoreboard eight ties until they finally got one set break with 24- 23.

The Brazilian women survived it and rallied to a 26-24 win.

"I am very satisfied with my players' first two sets performance. They did very well in every aspect, " said Brazil coach Jos Guimaraes.

"Yes, our team did not play well in the third set but I think Ishould take the responsibility as I changed the squad to send three new players into the third set

"But they failed to play well enough when the Germans played really concentrated. "

In Sunday's match, the unbeaten Brazil will fight against the top ranked China, who also have won all matches of the tournament so far.

"China is a very tough team. They are very strong and all-around. I hope we can play our game tomorrow," added Guimaraes.

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World women's volleyball powerhouse China rocked Poland in three straight sets in Macao on Saturday at the women' s volleyball Grand Prix Macao leg.

China came across a scary moment at the start of the first set when the 27-year-old captain Feng Kun fell down on the ground to make a save. The gritty Poland was in a hard bid to drag China's legs to win the set but the world-cup and Olympic dual-winner elbowed away at a 18-12 lead. Wang Yimei and Ma Yunwen, two of the rookies in the Chinese team, displayed their determination and helped the seniors to seal the set at a 25-18 win.

The Polish put up a gallant fight in the second set and the Chinese did not save their spiking fire power and blocking skill.

Chu Jinling, another green hand of the Chinese team, got the chance to show up her excellent serving in the set, helping the team to clinch the set at 25-13.

It seemed a no easy game for the hot Chinese team when Poland grasped a 4-1 lead at the start of the third set, but the Olympic gold medalists harshly counter-attacked to a 7-7 draw.

Then it was a show time for the Chinese spiking power as the 17-year-old Wang Yimei dominated the net with her jumping and the 1.90-meter height.

China sealed the set at 25-14, winning the second straight game in the Macao leg.

Chen Zhonghe, head coach of the Chinese team, told a press conference at the conclusion of the game that he is satisfied with the performance of the new comers in his team and wish them could improve further to secure their positions in the line-up.

"We will be well prepared when facing Brazil," Chen said while foreseeing the upcoming clash Sunday with the other women volleyball giant. Andrzej Niemczky, head coach of the Polish team, praised the fantastic performance of the Chinese side, noting that China was harder to play compared with Brazil.

Poland will encounter the arch-rival Germany on Sunday, hoping to avenge the loss to the latter in the qualification games for the World Championships finals.

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China stunned Brazil with a straight-set victory at the Macao leg of the 2005 women's volleyball Grand Prix here on Sunday.

Not as expected by many observers, the home side dominated the match with its speed and agility, while the other volleyball powerhouse showed not much determination to win the game.

Eight draws shed the shadow over China's start of the first set and it edged away quickly at 18-12 with its more powerful blocking, spiking and defense, in particular.

The 17-year-old Wang Yimei, stayed in the firstline-up for the third straight match, as the othertwo fellow rookies Ma Yunwen and Chu Jinlin also got lots of show time in the set.

Ma sealed the first set at 25-22 with a smash, making China lead at one to nil.

Brazil donned the start of the second set untilthe Chinese displayed their prowess on net with a batch of stealing smashes to tie the set at 10-10.

The veteran Zhou Suhong showed her serving power bringing to China a 14-13 lead, the first one in the set.

Brazil rattled back with its powerful spiking but China held on to the lead at 23-19 with its tight defense. A duplication of the ending of lastset, one unstoppable spike made China clinch the second set at 25-21.

The testing moment for the Chinese team came inthe third set when five draws at the start sparkled a harsh Brazilian fight-back making the latter once lead at 15-12.

The Chinese held their nerve, regained the leadand elbowed away at 24-20. One kill from the Olympic veteran Yang Hao cemented the Chinese victory at 25-20.

China, crowning the Macao leg, won a prize of 35,000 US dollars, while Brazil, the first runner-up, raked in 25,000 US dollars.

Poland, having defeated the arch-rival Germany earlier the day, gained 20,000 US dollars as the second runner-up and Germany, 15,000 dollars.

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China beat arch rival Brazil three games to love to win the gold at the Macao leg of the 2005 World Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament.

The 25-22, 25-21 and 25-20 win was the third consecutive victory for China in the Macao event, and the sixth in a row in the series.

China swept the European champions Poland 3-0 in their opening game and stunned Germany with the same score to reach the final.

The national women's team join Italy, Germany and Dominica in Group E in the Hong Kong leg event from July 8-11.

In the other match on Sunday, Poland edged out Germany in five games to win the bronze.

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Frank Rijkaard has claimed that Barcelona’s final match of the Far East tour was not easy, despite the Catalan outfit hammering Chinese champions Shenzhen Jianlibao 9-0.
The Dutch coach was reflecting on the hot and humid conditions in Macau as Barca maintained their unbeaten run in pre-season.

In an incredibly one-sided encounter, that saw the hosts manage only one shot on goal, the Blaugrana chalked up an impressive victory in front of one of the biggest television audiences the club have ever had as the match was shown live in 15 countries.

Andres Iniesta opened the scoring and Henrik Larsson and Ludovic Giuly netted again to give the touring side a three-goal lead at the break.

But in the second half Leo Messi and Samuel Eto’o both scored twice while Gio Van Bronkhorst and Deco netted one each to complete the rout.

"It was not as easy as the scoreline suggests," Rijkaard explained. "But the pitch was in good condition which is something."

Barca headed for the airport straight after the game for a 14-hour flight to Cádiz where they are due to meet Sevilla on Friday night in the Ramón de Carranza tournament.

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MACAU –– Barcelona put on a masterclass for their Asian fans on Wednesday with a 9-0 humiliation of Chinese champions Shenzhen Jianlibao in a pre-season friendly here.

African Player of the Year Samuel Eto'o sent out a warning to his Primera Liga rivals with a brace while 18-year-old Argentinian sensation Lionel Messi also grabbed two in sweltering conditions at the newly reopened Macau Stadium.

World Player of the Year Ronaldinho cut Shenzhen to ribbons in the first half as the Spanish title-holders strolled to a 3-0 lead by the break.

Spanish striker Iniesta tapped in after a four-man move involving Henrik Larsson with 23 minutes gone. The Swede, on his way back from a month-long injury lay-off, was on hand to double the lead 14 minutes later, although there was a strong hint of own goal as he was challenged at the near post.

Frenchman Ludovic Giuly then got on the end of a long, high ball from the back before rounding the keeper to make it 3-0 at half-time.

But there was worse to come for Shenzhen, who looked a shadow of the side that lifted the inaugural Chinese Super League title last season, as Barcelona brought on Eto'o, Deco and new signing Mark Van Bommel as part of a rash of half-time substitutions.

Cameroonian international Eto'o made an immediate impact, holding off Polish defender Marek Zajac to score almost from the re-start. Deco lashed in a fifth with his right boot seven minutes later.

Messi cued up an Eto'o cross to smash home a splendid volley and Giovanni van Bronckhurst made it seven in the 67th minute.

Messi got his second of the night with another savage left-footed strike on 88 minutes before Eto'o turned in Deco's bouncing shot in injury time.

The lone bright spot for Shenzhen came when goalkeeper Zhou Jia saved an Eto'o penalty to his right on 57 minutes.

The stylish victory made amends for Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Yokohama Marinos last week and was a fitting riposte to criticism of recent European performances in Asia, including those involving Barcelona's fierce rivals Real Madrid. –– AFP

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Pics

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Pics taken by ~阿bee~ from qoos

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MADRID: Barcelona’s 9-0 thrashing of Chinese Super League champions Shenzhen Jianlibao in Macau on Wednesday was not the walkover it appeared, according to coach Frank Rijkaard.

“The scoreline made it look easier than it was,” said the Dutchman. “The heat was asphyxiating and we weren’t able to prepare for the match as we wanted to.

“But the important thing was the attitude of all the players I used, the fact that they played very well and scored some great goals.

“I’m really happy with the image that the club have given in the tour of Asia. We are delighted to have made the fans happy with the way we played.”

The Spanish champions completely overpowered their opponents in the second match of their brief pre-season tour of Asia with leading striker Samuel Eto’o and young Argentine forward Lionel Messi both grabbing two goals apiece.

There was double reason for celebration for 18-year-old Messi, who found out that he had also been given his first call up for Argentina by coach Jose Pekerman for a friendly international against Hungary on Aug 17.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” said Messi, who was the top scorer with six goals when Argentina won the recent World Youth Championship in Holland.

“It’s the dream that I’ve had ever since I was a young boy and I'm very proud because it is an important step forward in my career.” – Reuters

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Luanda, 08/09 - The National Skate Hockey team Monday crushed Macao (21-3) in the second round match Group A of the world championship, being played in the U.S. San Jose city, California.

At half time, the Angolans were already ahead 9-1. Forward Toy Gaspar was the best scorer with eight goals.

Angola plays again today against Chile, in a match that will decide the second placed of the Group, led by Portugal.