GB's volleyball teams are hoping to compete at London 2012

Britain's men bowed out of the Volleyball World Championships with a 3-1 defeat by Belarus on Sunday.

Competing in the tournament for the first time, GB faced Israel in their opening game in Sheffield on Friday with high hopes.

But they put in a disappointing display and were beaten 3-1 before losing by the same scoreline to Belarus, who went through to the next round.

The women's team beat Montenegro, but lost to Portugal and Israel.

The British teams were only formed in 2006 when London won the right to host the Games, having previously competed under the individual home nations' flags.

Both teams have made good progress, with the men beating established teams Greece, Portugal and Denmark on home soil recently.

However, the sport is bracing itself for a significant funding cut as part of UK Sport's new budget.

That could leave the teams struggling to hold on to renowned Dutch coach Harry Brokking.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version