VTAM NEWS

TOKYO, Saturday, May 31: Australia's Men's Volleyball team has begun its
quest for a third consecutive Olympics with a comfortable 3-0 win over
Thailand in the opening round of the FIVB World Olympic Qualification
tournament today. IAN HANSON reports....
The Australians started brilliantly with a powerful serving game, especially
from young guns Igor Yudin and Paul Carroll steering the reigning Asian
Champions to an impressive 25-12 opening set at Tokyo's Metropolitan
Gymnasium.
With the experience of dual Olympians Dan Howard and captain Ben Hardy and
Athens pair Luke Campbell and Brett Alderman the spirited Australians went
on to wrap up the match 25-15 and 25-14 in what Australian head coach Russ
Borgeaud described as a good, solid start.
"I think we scared Thailand a bit with our big serving first set, they were
a bit shell shocked. The number of points from serves today was more than
normal," said Borgeaud, who praised his team but also warned them to stay
focused for their all-important next match against Argentina tomorrow.
"Argentina will be a different story. We will need good spirit and good
control against a team that do not make too many errors.
"I congratulated them and said well done, it was a good start, but I also
told them to remember they have to stay focused and to maintain the same
standard against a far better team. They are going to have to be prepared to
fight it out."
Yudin, just 20 years of age and 200cm tall and Carroll at 22 and 204cm,
represent the new breed of Australian men's volleyball player in a team
which has to be finish as the best Asian team from this eight-team
tournament to qualify for Beijing.
Apart from Thailand, the other Asian teams are host nation Japan, Korea and
Iran, who will be joined by Argentina, Italy and Algeria.
It was Yudin who led the serving points from Carroll who was Australia's
leading overall scorer with 16.
They were the only two members of Australia's starting six without Olympic
experience but they have emerged as the future of the sport in a country
which is looking far beyond Beijing.
Howard, at 31 and a 300 game veteran of the National team was outstanding in
the middle - easily leading the blocking statistics with five for a total of
nine match points, just one ahead of Yudin.
Hardy, who was also dominant in the first two sets, was quick to serve
praise on Howard, who has returned to the team after the World Cup.
"To have Dan back is a huge boost. He's in good form and it's a big benefit
to the team to have him here," said Hardy.
Every member of the Australian squad saw court time against Thailand and
Borgeaud is convinced the depth of his team is such that he can win games
with any six on the court.