Sitting volleyball champions on court on Day 3

Iran men’s team and China women’s team face opponents at ExCeL Arena. 01 Sep 2012

Iran beat Rwanda 3-0 and is the favourite to qualify on Pool B at the London 2012 sitting volleyball tournament.

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China take on defending champions Iran as their difficult start to the tournament continues, while Russia tackle Germany in what should be a tight encounter between the two European nations.

Favourites to qualify from Pool B in the men’s sitting volleyball, Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina go looking for consecutive victories on Saturday (1 September) as the men’s second round of matches begins.

Iran beat Rwanda 3-0, while China could not upset Bosnia and Herzevogina who also won without dropping a set. Bosnian coach, Mirza Hrustemovic, was pleased with the victory but knows his side must be at their best for the rest of the tournament if they want to go home with gold. Mirza Hrustemovic said: “Every match we must fight, as everyone is playing well. There are a lot of good teams here. I hope every day we can play better and better.”

The Bosnians will now face Brazil, who eased past Rwanda in their first game and their coach, Lages Guimaraes, says the team will go into the game with a lot of confidence.

Speaking about the clash, Guimaraes said: “We are here to play better and better, to improve. It is not hard for them to win against us, but we are much better than a year ago, so we might surprise them.”

China take on defending champions Iran as their difficult start to the tournament continues, while Russia tackle Germany in what should be a tight encounter between the two European nations. After his side’s victory over Morocco, four-time German Paralympian Jurgen Schrapp claimed his side were confident of winning although Russia coach, Viktor Dyakov, was a little more cautious. He said: “All opponents are good in the Paralympics. We just have to keep our heads straight and keep doing what we do. We aim high all the time.”

In the women’s event, world number 13 Great Britain will hope to improve against the Netherlands after losing their opening match 3-0 to Ukraine. The host nation will need to need to cut out errors from their game if they are to get anything from the game, but captain, Claire Harvey, is remaining positive.

She said: “The benefit of our journey is that we have nothing to lose and everything to fight for, which gives us comfort. The likes of China come here with medal pressure.”

Being among the favourites was not a burden for the Chinese women as they beat the USA 3-1 on Friday (31 August). China will face Brazil on Saturday, who will play their first match at London 2012, while the USA will hope to improve on their performance as they take on Slovenia in one of the evening matches.