Women's Volleyball Off to Beijing
The Russian national women's volleyball team is going to the Olympics in 2008. It won against the Polish team in a dramatic match in the European qualifying tournament in Halle, Germany, yesterday, playing for the fifth day in a row. The Russian team last played the Poles in October for third place in the Championship of Europe. They won that game as well, although, after being world champions in 2006, they were not entirely satisfied to place third in Europe.
The Italian team has already earned its place in Beijing by winning the World Cup in November. The Russian team won against Croatia and Romania and then took on favorites Serbia, Germany (in front of an audience of 6000 German fans) and Poland to become top European players.
The Polish team got off to a strong start against Russia, but Russia came through in a late surge thank to Lyubov Sokolova and Ekaterina Gamova. Poland and Serbia will have one more chance to join Italy and Russia at the Olympics when they play in the world qualifying tournament in May.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 21, 2008
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