|
Macao, Aug. 25-- World No. 1 Brazil and defending event champion the United States secured their berths in the semifinals of the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix final round with respective wins in Pool B here Thursday afternoon. In Pool A, World Grand Prix newcomer Serbia rallied past reigning world champion Russia 3-1 while dark horse Thailand stunned the host China in four sets to make the group wide open before the last round of round robin play on Friday. The Brazilian women subdued an aggressive Japanese team in straight sets 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 in Pool B of round robin play at the Macao East Asian Games Dome where the Americans rallied from 2-1 down to beat Italy 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-22 and 15-10. Improving their overall record in this season's World Grand Prix to 11-0, Brazil topped Pool B with six points from two straight sets wins, followed by the USA team on five. The Italians, 3-0 losers to Brazil on Wednesday, were third with one point while Japan placed fourth after two 3-0 losses. With only one match remaining for each team, Brazil and the United States have iced top two finishes in Pool B with Italy and Japan to fight for the third finish on Friday. Replacing injury-hit Steinbrecher Marianne to start for Brazil, Fernanda Rodrigues topped all scorers with 17 in the match against Japan. Brazil took an easy first set against their Asian rivals as they unleashed their usual game, not allowing Japan to counter attack. F. Garay was stellar in attack for Brazil, scoring six points for her team as they took the set. | 
