OSAKA, Japan, Nov. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- World Grand Prix champions China are just one step away from their first World Cup title in 18 years after taming world champions Italy 3-0 here on Friday for their 10th straight win.

    The Chinese women beat Italy 26-24, 25-18 and 25-20 to remain unbeaten in the 2003 women's volleyball World Cup and lead the standings with 20 points. Their closest followers are Brazil, who have collected nine wins and a loss.

    "We played consistently through the match," said Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe. "We came across some difficulties during the match and we overcame them with confidence."

    Italy, 3-0 losers to Cuba on Thursday, slipped to a 7-3 record with their second defeat in two days, but they still had a chance to grab a ticket to the Athens Games in 2004.

    "We tried hard in the match, and I think we did better than yesterday," said Italy's head coach Marco Bonitta.

    "We will try our best in the match against Brazil tomorrow," headded.

    The Italians put up strong resistance against the Chinese in the first set. They overcame a 20-17 deficit to tie it at 24-all.

    After the 1.96-meter Zhao Ruirui smashed a ball home to give China a 25-24 advantage, Simona Rinieri drove a ball out to surrender the opener.

    The second set was more comfortable for China. They established a 15-10 lead with a 7-2 run on back of crisp spikes and efficient blocks by the towering Zhao and held on to make it two sets to nil.

    The Italians struggled for a 19-17 lead in the third set, but China ran off eight of the last nine points to clinch the victory.

    Spiker Yang Yao led China with 16 points, Zhao made three successful blocks to finish with 15 points.

    "We stayed calm playing against the world champions," Zhao said at the press conference. "I think now our team is more confident than before when in crisis."

    China will play Japan on Saturday in their last match and they vowed to do their best.

    "We will play the match with high spirit," said Zhao. Enditem