SAITAMA (Japan), Nov 19: Puerto Rico gained sweet revenge for their loss in the continental championship final by beating the United States in the men’s volleyball World Cup on Monday.

Man-of-the-match Hector Soto scored 29 points for Puerto Rico including an array of 27 powerful spikes, while Jose Rivera also scored 14 points.

It was particularly disappointing for the US given their opening shock win over a fancied Brazilian side on Sunday.

The Puerto Rican side beat the US 25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22.

The top three finishers in the 12-team round robin competition will qualify for the Beijing Olympics next year.Earlier in the day, world bronze medallists Bulgaria, who defeated European champions Spain on Sunday, chalked up a second straight win beating African champions Egypt 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18.

In Saitama, 1999 champions Russia whipped Asian champions Australia 25-22, 28-26, 25-10 for a second successive win, while Argentina beat Tunisia 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23.

In other games, Brazil beat Spain 30-28, 25-17, 25-16 and Japan brushed aside South Korea 25-15, 25-20, 25-21.

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Russia v Tunisia; Argentina v South Korea, Japan v Australia, Bulgaria v Puerto Rico, Spain v US, Brazil v Egypt.—AFP