Disabled prowess

Spike action from tonight's game with Cambodia in dark blue and their coach, Christian Zepp, standing in red

With the buzz of the SEA Games still ringing in my ears and the knowledge that Cambodia have easily beaten their 2007 medals tally already, with 26 at the last count this evening, I went to watch my first match of the WOVD Volleyball World Cup. And I definitely chose the right matchup. Cambodia versus Slovakia is probably the toughest match that will be played by all the six teams competing in this world cup competition. I remember the games between the two teams in 2007 and I specifically remember the bad sportmanship showed by the Slovakia No 1 and captain. His non-stop moaning and whining (and his quality blocking and volleying) was a feature then and it looks like he hasn't learnt his lesson now, as he was at it again. Cambodia ran out 3-2 set winners in a very close preliminary round encounter and that set the crowd alight, with clapping, cheering and drum-bashing throughout the match. Most enjoyable and I hope to get along to a few more Cambodia games leading up to Saturday's final. They've already beaten Poland and still have to face Germany, Malaysia and India to identify who the the semi-finalists will be on Friday.

The support tonight was excellent and even this Malaysian player got caught up in the mood with the Cambodin flag

The Cambodian team and support staff celebrate their success over Slovakia