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Poland moved to 10 points at the summit of Pool A as Wilfredo
Leon, who sat out their win over Venezuela, returned to the
court and finished as top scorer for the third time in Tokyo
with 17 points and two aces.
Skipper Yuki Ishikawa and Yuji Nishida did the bulk of the
scoring for Japan with 16 and 13 points, respectively, but
Poland's experience and defence shone through as they made 12
blocks to hand Japan a second defeat.
"We started out serving and receiving well but got worse in the
last two sets. Our quick attack was no good," Japan coach Yuichi
Nakagaichi said. "Their libero (Pawel Zatorski) really
controlled the match."
World number one and 2016 gold medallists Brazil were stunned in
the opening set when the U.S. saved four set points but
recovered to win the next three in a 30-32 25-23 25-21 25-20
victory to consolidate second spot in Pool B.
Brazil's outside hitter Ricardo Lucarelli top scored with 19
points, ably supported by Yoandy Leal (18 points) and Wallace de
Souza (17 points), as they bounced back from a straight sets
humbling by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
"We held a team meeting after we lost (to ROC) and we trained
yesterday on our day off," skipper Bruno Rezende said. "I think
this helped erase the mood after that loss and recover our
confidence."
Brazil coach Renan Dal Zotto praised his skipper who had 51 sets
in the contest.
"Bruno is so clever on his sets. He always keeps track of the
numbers and percentages with the match-ups during each set and
makes the smart choice setting up our attack," Dal Zotto said.
Canada beat bottom side Venezuela 25-13 25-22 25-12 to sit
second in Pool A, three points behind Poland.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
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