XI'AN, China, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- European powerhouse Poland beat Canada 3-2 in a comeback way in the FIVB "Road to Paris" Olympic men's volleyball qualifiers here on Tuesday.

Starting with a 12-9 lead, the north Americans stunned big favorites Poland in the first set with outstanding performances on serves. Outside hitter Bartosz Bednorz's attacks and blocks helped Poland narrow the gap but Canada still took the set 25-21.

Thanks to some key substitutes, Poland strengthened their attacking and established a 13-6 advantage in the beginning of the second set. Jakub Kochanowski and Marcin Janusz combined in the attacking formation to give Poland the set with 25-20.

The third set saw a see-saw play that the two teams traded points with each other from 2-2 to 8-8. Bednorz, who scored a game-high 25 points, broke the tie with his powerful line spikes and enlarged the advantages to 15-10, gifting Poland another 25-20 win.

In the crucial fourth set, the Canadians, who took a 5-1 lead at the very beginning, showed gritty qualities to win with 25-20 and dragged the duel to the final set.

Poland showed no mercy in the tie-breaker and smashed the opposing side with unstoppable spikes and solid blocks. By winning the set 17-15, the Poles claimed third consecutive win and made Canada swallow their first defeat in the tournament.

After taking the 139-minute marathon, Poland, as the sole team that earned three wins in Group C, will meet Mexico on Wednesday.

In the last match of the day that held at Xi'an Qujiang Arena, China celebrated their first home victory in the tournament by beating Mexico 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-19). The hosts proved stronger on the way to a dominant triumph with a recovered Zhang Jingyin and captain Jiang Chuan leading China with 16 and 11 points, respectively.

"Zhang (Jingyin) give us more options in settings and counterattacks during the valuable victory," said Wu Sheng, head coach of China.

"(Next rival) Canada is a totally different team from Mexico, and we will do our best to fight for another win," he added.

Also on Tuesday, Belgium upset the Netherlands 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-15), Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medalists Argentina swept past Bulgaria 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 31-29). Enditem

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