The Chinese team defeated their Egyptian counterparts in Cairo on Friday evening with 3-0 at the 2008 World League men's volleyball preliminaries.

China got a 25-18 victory at the first set, followed by the second set with 25-21 and the third with 25-23.

Head coach of the Chinese team Zhou Jianan said at a press conference following the match that his team played very well, especially during the third set when China once lagged behind with seven points.

Describing the Egyptian team as "very competitive", Zhou said the match scheduled for July 12 between the two sides will be very hard to predict.

In the previous two matches of the preliminaries in late June, China beat Egypt 3-1 and 3-0.

A total of 16 teams in the World League were grouped in four pools. Brazil, France, Serbia, Venezuela are in Pool A, while Russia, Cuba, South Korea, Italy are in Pool B. The United States, Bulgaria, Spain and Finland meet in Pool C, while Poland, Japan, China and Egypt compete in Pool D.

In the end, six teams will compete in the final round in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil from July 23 to 27.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2008)