MACAO, Aug. 28-- Defending champion the United States took a sweet revenge on eight-time title winner Brazil to retain the trophy at the 1,740,000 US dollars FIVB World Grand Prix on Sunday. Losing 3-1 to the world No.1 team in their pool B clash two days ago, the Americans claimed a well-earned 26-24, 25-20 and 25-21 victory to snap an amazing 13-game winning streak of Brazil in this year's World Grand Prix and pocket 200,000 US dollars top prize. Destinee Hooker, the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix, led the United States with 16 points, with Logan Tom and Jordan Larson adding 14 and 11 respectively. For the first time the exciting gold medal match was officiated by two female referees, namely Zorica Bjelic of Serbia and Susana Rodriguez from Spain, and the United States started strongly in front of a full packed Macao East Asian Games Dome, jumping to a 9-3 lead. The Brazilian women never gave up easily as they steadily crawled back to tie it at 17-all. It was tied at 24-all before Destinee Hooker smashed a ball home to give the Americans the second set point and Jordan Larson converted it with another kill in counter attack. The second set was also hotly contested before the United States surged away for a 19-15 cushion. After Brazil cut it to 20-18, the United States concluded the set with a 5-2 run capped by a smart shot of Logan Tom. Falling behind 9-4 early in the third set, the Brazilians fought hard to pull within 23-21, only to find Foluke Akinradewo make it 24-21 with a short dink and Larson drive a ball out of bounds for the match winner. |