Poland clinch World Grand Prix first win against Azerbaijan

After losing their first eight games in the nine-leg, 12-team tournament, the reigning European champions outclassed Azerbaijan 3-2 (25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 22-25, 15-13) in their last match at the Ningbo leg.

"I am happy for two reasons. First, it is our first win in the 2006 World Grand Prix. Secondly, it is also my success as the leading coach," said Ireneusz Klos, who acted as the care-taker of the Polish team after head coach Ryszard Andrzej Niemczyk resigned before the three-day Ningbo leg.

"I hope that it will be much easier to prepare other tournaments after this game," he added.

But Poland have found their form too late to qualify for the World Grand Prix finals, as they finished the bottom with a 1-8 win-loss record.

The top five teams from the qualifying rounds join hosts Italy in the finals, which run from Sept. 6-10 in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Both teams looked sluggish after the match kicked off at the Beilun Sports and Arts Center, but Azerbaijan gradually gained the upper hand with fast-paced, hard-hitting attacks and went into the first technical timeout 8-6.

Trailing 16-13, Poland used a 9-2 run to overtake the lead 22-18 before taking the first set 25-21.

The Poles continued to dominate the net in the second set, while Azerbaijan failed to find answers to Poland's solid blocking. Again, Poland took another set without much effort.

The scenario changed rapidly in the third set as Azerbaijan regrouped and started to hit form. Natalya Mammadova punctured the Polish defence with devastating spikes to help Azerbaijan race to an 8-3 lead before widening the gap to 16-9. Poland then managed to narrow the gap to 18-14, but Azerbaijan did not let their opponents go further and pulled one set back.

Azerbaijan rolled on their rhythm in the fourth set, where they performed well to lead 4-0, 9-4, 17-10. Trailing 24-19, Poland saved four set points before a searing spike by Mammadova from the left sealed another set for Azerbaijan.

Poland, the 2003 and 2005 European Champions, showed their grits and guts in the decider to eventually prevail 15-13.

/Xinhua/