Men's Olympic Games Test Event

    results so far-


    July 20
    Brazil def. Egypt, 25-22, 25-23, 25-16
    Great Britain def. Mexico, 25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23
    Serbia def. USA, 16-25, 25-17, 25-16, 26-24


    July 21
    USA def. Egypt, 25-23 25-17 25-21
    Brazil def. Mexico, 25-15, 25-16, 25-14
    Serbia def. Great Britain, 25-18, 25-14, 27-25

    July 22
    Serbia – Egypt 0:3 (32:34, 16:25, 22:25)
    Brazil – Great Britain 3:0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:12)
    USA – Mexico 3:0 (25:19, 25:17, 25:18 )


    StatisticsSerbia - Egypt


    1. BRA 3 3 0 9:0 9
    2. USA 3 2 1 7:3 6
    3. SRB 3 2 1 6:4 6
    4. EGY 3 1 2 3:6 3
    5. GBR 3 1 2 3:7 3
    6. MEX 3 0 3 1:9 0


    Egypt sprang the surprise of the tournament so far to beat Serbia 3-0 (34-32, 25-16, 25-22) on the third day of play at the London Prepares International Invitational Volleyball competition at Earls Court on Friday.


    In other matches, Brazil cruised past Great Britain 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-12), while USA overcame Mexico, also in straight sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-18 ).


    Egypt, ranked 14th in the world, had lost their opening two matches of the competition against USA and Brazil in straight sets, while Serbia, ranked fifth, had won both of theirs over Great Britain and USA. But an energetic Egypt side prevailed over an out-of-sorts Serbia.


    The first set was a thriller and took 11 set points before Egypt were able to win it. The spiking of Egypt’s top scorer, Ahmed Abdelhay, proved crucial, as he grounded six kills, while Salah Youssef hit five winning spikes. They both benefitted from the pinpoint setting of Abdalla Ahmed. Serbia replied through winners from Dragan Stankovic, Milos Nikic, Sasa Starovic and Marko Podrascanin. Egypt finally killed off their opponents through an ace serve from Abdelhay.


    Egypt were dealt a potential blow at the start of the second set when Abdelhay had to go off with a knee injury, but his teammates covered well for him. Mohamed Badawy and Saleh Yousseff put away some decent spikes while Abdellatif Ahmed scored three superb blocked winners.


    The Egyptians’ form continued into set three, with fine blocking from Ahmed and with Rashad Atia adding to their attacking options as they finished off the Serbs.


    World No. 1 Brazil had little trouble disposing of the hosts, streaking out to a 7-0 lead at the start of the match, with the spiking of Luiz Felipe Fonteles and Thiago Alves proving lethal. Great Britain rallied towards the end, with Oluwadamilola Bakare hitting two spiked kills, one blocked winner and serving two aces, but it was too little, too late.


    Set two unfolded along similar lines, with Brazil playing fluid volleyball. Fonteles was again lethal, grounding five spikes and hitting a winning block. Britain rallied once more towards the end, with good work by Bakare and Yassir Sliti, but Brazil held their nerve to take the set 25-22.


    The third set was dominated by the Brazilians, especially their powerful centre blocker Gustavo Bonnata, who made three winning blocks and hit three spiked kills. Bakare showed some flashes of class to continue his impressive tournament, but Brazil were just too strong all over the court.


    Against a Mexico side with few standout performers, USA had an easy time. It was close early on, but from 11-10, USA pulled away, with the spiking of Evan Patak the most powerful weapon on display. He was supported by Jason Jablonsky, while the accurate setting of Brian Thornton kept USA in control.


    And it was no different in sets 2 and 3 as Mexico struggled to find an answer against the powerful Americans.
    FIVB

    July 23
    Serbia – Brazil 3:0 (25:22, 25:18, 25:18 )
    Egypt – Mexico 3:0 (25:23, 26:24, 25:17)
    USA – Great Britain 3:0 (25:23, 25:10, 27:25)


    Statistics Serbia - Brazil


    1. USA 4 3 1 10:3 9
    2. Brazil 4 3 1 9:3 9
    3. Serbia 4 3 1 9:4 9
    4. Egypt 4 2 2 6:6 6
    5. Great Britain 4 1 3 3:10 3
    6. Mexico 4 0 4 1:12 0

    Stankovic gone mad :what:

    July 24
    Serbia – Mexico 3:0 (25:21, 25:11, 25:14)
    Great Britain – Egypt 3:1 (25:18, 21:25, 25:22, 25:23)
    Brazil – USA 3:2 (25:21, 22:25, 25:27, 25:16, 18:16)


    Statistics Serbia - Mexico


    Final Ranking
    1. Serbia 5 4 1 12:4 12
    2. Brazil 5 4 1 12:5 11
    3. USA 5 3 2 12:5 10
    4. Egypt 5 2 3 7:9 6
    5. Great Britain 5 2 3 6:11 6
    6. Mexico 5 0 5 1:15 0

    Serbia win London Prepares International Invitational
    Serbia finished the London Prepares International Invitational on a high thanks to a straight sets win over Mexico at Earls Court on Sunday as they took top spot on the podium ahead of Brazil and USA as the tournament drew to a close.


    Meanwhile hosts Great Britain sealed their second win of the tournament as they beat Egypt to finish fifth, showing continued signs of improvement ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games next year.


    Serbia’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-14) win over Mexico was their fourth in five games, with their only reverse coming in a surprise defeat by Egypt on Friday.


    For Mexico it was a fifth straight defeat in a tournament that has seen them pick up just one set: against Great Britain in a 3-1 loss on Wednesday.


    With Serbia’s London Prepares dangerman Nikola Kovacevic rested from the match, Sasa Starovic was Serbia’s leading scorer, registering 12 spikes on his way to a points total of 18.


    Starovic was ably backed up by Milos Vemic, who took advantage of an extended run on court to amass 13 points.


    Mexico captain Gerardo Contreras battled hard for his side, who pushed Serbia close in the first set but found themselves out-classed the rest of the match.


    Contreras grounded nine spikes to end as Mexico’s top scorer both in the match and in the tournament, where he registered 34 points.


    For Serbia, who brought four members of their Beijing 2008 Olympic Games squad to London, victory brought to a close a successful warm-up tournament.


    Brazil and USA put on a five-set thriller in the final game of the tournament but had to settle for silver and bronze respectively as Serbia took home the title.


    After two hours and 12 minutes of closely contested Volleyball, and plenty of fluctuating fortunes, it was Brazil who took the honours by defeating USA 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-27, 25-16, 18-16) in a close match.


    Having eased into an early lead, taking the first set 25-21, the Brazilians were rocked as their opponents, led by the spiking of Evan Patak and Matthew Anderson, won the next two sets.


    If Brazil were unnerved by letting that lead slip, they did not show it and quickly struck back with a relatively comfortable fourth set win (25-16) to set up a rousing finale in the tournament’s first five-setter.


    By going to a fifth set, Serbia were crowned the London Prepares champions, their 12-point total from five matches unsurpassable by Brazil or USA.


    Luiz Fonteles and Wallace De Souza were leading the way for Brazil, but in a tense and exciting final set, USA earned themselves match point at 16-15. The Brazilians kept their nerve, though, to win three successive points and with them the gold medal.

    Great Britain closed a successful tournament for the host nation with a 3-1 victory over Egypt in the penultimate match of the competition.


    The win – by 25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23 - was the second recorded by the British players in the six-team tournament, following on from a 3-1 opening day triumph over Mexico.


    Oluwadamilola Bakare was again the star for the side as he scored 27 of his team’s 96 points, including an impressive 23 spikes.


    Ably assisted by the likes of Andrew Pink, Nathan French and Christopher Lamont, Bakare’s performance helped Great Britain finish in fifth place in the table.


    For the Egyptians, for whom Ahmed Abdelhay was outstanding throughout, the London Prepares events has brought mixed fortunes.


    Despite defeats by USA, Brazil and Great Britain, impressive 3-0 wins over Mexico on Saturday (23 July) and, perhaps more unexpectedly, Serbia on Friday (22 July) will give them confidence.
    FIVB

    USA had taken the top spot on the podium if they had defeated Brazil in 3-1. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Pity!. I'm still angry because the tournament was held in a way so secretive!. X(