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Olympic Survey (Sept 29)
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| Italian players on the bench after losing to Yugoslavia |
The best Yugoslav volleyball players have qualified for the Olympic finals after defeating the Italian national team 3-0 (27-25, 34-32, 25-14) in the semifinal match. The Italians are world and European champions and the winners of the World League 2000.
With their superb play which was not seen on official competitions for long, the Yugoslavs simply "blew away" from the field the Italian national team which has been a synonym for world volleyball for more than a decade.
The Yugoslav volleyball players were successful in everything this evening. The serve was superb, block was great too and they were unsurpassable in the field. Even a team such as the Italian one did not have the answer for such play.
Coach Gajic gave opportunities to only seven players: Grbic brothers, Mester, Geric, Vujevic, Miljkovic and Mijic, who were brilliant in all three sets.
"You cannot play Italy in the semifinals with easy points. We had to earn every single point with great difficulty. I think that my team have shown physical strength as well in this match, for they gave calm and smart play in decisive moments", Yugoslav coach Zoran Gajic said.
"I think this was he match of our generation. However, I hope this is not the end. We face the finals and the battle for the gold. The victory over Italy is something special to me. This will be a big stimulus for us all in the match against Russia", said Yugoslav captain Nikola Grbic.
Semifinals - Results
Russia - Argentina 3-1 (27-25, 32-30, 21-25, 25-11)
YUGOSLAVIA - Italy 3-0 (27-25, 34-32, 25-14)
Men's gold match
YUGOSLAVIA - Russia
Men's bronze match
Italy - Argentina
Classifications
Cuba - Australia 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-15)
Netherlands - Brazil 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-22)
Yugoslavia have qualified for the semifinals of the Olympic water polo tournament, after defeating Australia 7-3 (2-1, 2-0, 2-1, 1-1) in the quarterfinals.
The final result of the match was never questioned. From the very start of the match the Yugoslavs were dominant in front of both goals. Headed by invincible goalkeeper Sostar, our defense brought dismay to the Australians who did not dare to shoot even from favourable positions.
On the other hand, Sapic and Ivkovic played in front of the Australian goal and managed points without greater difficulties.
"We are satisfied with the result and the way we played. We have achieved what we planned, so there were no problems for us to qualify for the semifinals. We will play the semifinal match against our old acquaintances Hungarians and it will be a tough and uncertain match once again", said the Yugoslav coach Nenad Manojlovic.
Quarterfinals - Results
YUGOSLAVIA - Australia 7-3 (1-1 2-1 2-0 2-1)
Scorers for Yugoslavia: Aleksandar Sapic 3, Aleksandar Ciric, Veljko
Uskokovic, Danilo Ikodinovic, Dejan Savic. Scorers for Australia: Daniel Marsden 2, Nathan Thomas.
Spain - Croatia 9-8 (3-3 2-3 3-1 1-1)
Hungary - Italy 8-5 (1-0 2-2 3-3 2-0)
Russia - US 11-10 (2-3 4-3 2-4 3-0)
Classifications
Netherlands - Slovakia 9-8 (2-2 4-3 2-2 1-1)
Kazakhstan - Greece 6-6 (2-0 1-2 3-1 0-3)
Standings
Netherlands 1 1 0 0 9-8 2
Kazakhstan 1 0 1 0 6-6 1
Greece 1 0 1 0 6-6 1
Slovakia 1 0 0 1 8-9 0
Dragan Skrbic (YUG) scores
against Russians
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Having been beaten by the Russians 26-29 (15-14) in the semifinal match, Yugoslavia failed to qualify for handball Olympic finals.
Unsuccessfully trying to impose their rhythm, the Yugoslavs were inferior in the major part of this dynamic and tough match.
The Russians had a constant lead and allowed the Yugoslavs to raise hopes at the end of the first half and in the beginning of the second when our team twice took a minimal lead (15-14 and 16-15). Neither good saves from Sterbik, nor devoted play from our players was enough in those moments. Perunicic failed to use the penalty, which was followed by a series of misses in the attack.
Something more might have been done in the Yugoslavs' attack in the moment when the rival led 26-24 six minutes and twenty seconds before the end. However, Golic recklessly shot at the empty goal which finished off our already exhausted players.
Semifinals - Results
Sweden - Spain 32-25 (15-10)
Russia - YUGOSLAVIA 29-26 (14-15)
Men's bronze match
September 30: YUGOSLAVIA - Spain
Men's gold match
September 30: Russia - Sweden
Men's classification match for places 5 to 8:
Germany - Egypt 24-18 (10-9)
France - Slovenia 29-22 (17-9)
Yugoslav woman kayaker Natasa Janic managed to qualify for the 500m Olympic final after winning the second place in the semifinal race.
Having been the 7th in the men's 500m 2nd semifinal group, Ognjen Filipovic unfortunately failed to repeat Janic's success.
Women's 500m kayak singles semifinal - Semifinal 1 (1st 3 to final):
1. Katrin Borchert (Australia) 1:53.07
2. Natasa Janic (Yugoslavia) 1:55.48
3. Uschi Profanter (Austria) 1:55.62
4. Manuela Mucke (Germany) 1:55.79
5. Sanda Toma (Romania) 1:56.31
6. Kathy Colin (U.S.) 1:57.00
7. Teresa Portela (Spain) 1:58.93
8. Marcela Erbanova (Slovakia) 1:59.47
9. Anna Hemmings (Britain) 1:59.66
Men's 500m kayak singles semifinals - Semifinal 2 (1st 3 in each race to final):
1. Petar Merkov (Bulgaria) 1:40.00
2. Alvydas Duonela (Lithuania) 1:40.36
3. Alan van Coller (South Africa) 1:40.65
4. Nathan Baggaley (Australia) 1:40.88
5. Kimmo Latvamaki (Finland) 1:41.64
6. Robert Erban (Slovakia) 1:42.30
7. Ognjen Filipovic (Yugoslavia) 1:43.43
8. Nam Sung-Ho (South Korea) 1:46.00
Vladimir Grushikhin (Armenia) dq
In the competition with 56 athletes, Yugoslav athlete Aleksandar Rakovic won the 11th place in the Olympic men's 50km walk road, having finished the race with the time of 3:49:12.
Yugoslav men's and women's 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay squads, which took part in the qualifications, failed to qualify for the next round.
50 KILOMETRES WALK ROAD - Men - Final
1 Korzeniowski Robert (POL) 3:42:22
2 Fadejevs Aigars (LAT) 3:43:40
3 Sánchez Joel (MEX) 3:44:36 (PB)
...
11 Rakovic Aleksandar (YUG) 3:49:16 (SB)
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