OSAKA, Japan, November 15, 2006 -- China outlasted Cuba in an intense battle in the 5-8 playoffs positions on Wednesday at the 2006 FIVB Women’s World Championship.

 

In an extremely close match, China won 26-24, 25-21, 26-28, 25-20, and Japan defeated The Netherlands, 25-21, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21.

 

In the round for the medals, Russia beat Italy 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 with Lioubov Sashkova leading the way with 21 points, and Sheila Castro’s 20 points led the victory of Brazil over Serbia & Montenegro 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20.

 

Wang Yimei led China with 22 points and Yang Hao and Xu Yunli added 16 and 10 respectively. Nancy Carrillo was the top Cuban scorer with 22 points, Rosir Calderon contributed 17 and Yumilka Ruiz had 15 points.

 

Captain Yumilka Ruiz: “I think it was a good game for both teams and the key point is that China made lesser errors than us.”

 

Rosier Calderon: “Today we made a lot of mistakes and China made the most of those chances. That's why they won.”

 

Head coach Luis Calderon: “It was an important game for both teams in terms of the final classification. Today we lacked concentration.”

 

Meanwhile, the United States cruised past Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the 9-12 playoffs. The Americans won 25-15, 25-20, 25-21.

 

On the same bracket, Turkey defeated Germany 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 27-25 with Neslihan Darnel leading the Turkish side with 28 points.

 

Nancy Metcalf and Tayyiba Haneef led USA squad with 16 and 14 points respectively, Danielle Scott and Heather Bown each had 11 tallies and Katherine Wilkins added 10 points.

 

Captain Robyn Ah Mow-Santos: “Our main goal was blocking and defense. We saw a video of Chinese Taipei and they ran quick stuff so we just made sure we blocked a lot.”

 

Coach Lang Ping: “We have a big advantage with our physical talent, but we also can learn from Taipei. They have great ball control in passing and defense. We won the game but we still need to learn and improve.”