Brazil beat Poland in volleyball tournament

Defending champions Brazil powered past Poland for their third straight win to remain unbeaten in the World Grand Champions Cup men's volleyball tournament on Saturday.

After struggling to overcome Cuba in the first day of the tournament Brazil's men found their form to score a solid 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 win over the European champions in the six-team competition.

"We put on a lot of pressure from the beginning of the match and that helped us. We served quite well and our blocking defence was quite efficient," said Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende.

"Our game was fluent and consistent. It was a very good win. We hope we can continue to play better in the next two matches."

Cuba, North and Central American champions, had to work hard before fending off a spirited challenge from wildcard entrants Egypt 25-17, 23-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-7.

"My players are very young, so it is difficult for them to keep concentrating. They played differently in every set, sometimes good and sometimes bad," said Cuban coach Orlando Samuels.

"We are trying to play consistently in every set. That is what we are trying to aim for," he added.

In the last match of the day, Japan edged past Iran 27-25, 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 16-14 for a third straight win.

Cuba trailed the top two teams with a 2-1 win-loss record, followed by Iran with 1-2 ahead of winless Egypt and Poland.