FIVB Grand Prix 2010 Women’s Volleyball Tournament - Overview
The exciting event of women’s volleyball, the FIVB Grand Prix 2010, starts today. The electrifying tournament will end on 29th of August. This year, 12 countries from three different continents are participating in this incredible combat, and the teams are divided into 9 pools.
FIVB Grand Prix 2010 is the 18th edition of the game, with Brazil defending the title this season. Brazil managed grabbing two FIVB World Grand Prix titles in previous years. Last year, they claimed the final victory by defeating Japan in their home-ground in Tokyo.
This year, Brazil will host teams from Taiwan, Japan, and Italy in the first preliminary round of the tournament. The arrangements have been set up in the city of Sao Carlos where the competitions begin on Friday. China and Poland will also host the first round matches.
The Polish city, Gdynia is also scheduled to be the host of teams from Germany, USA, Dominican Republic, and also home-side Poland for the first initial round matches. The remaining four teams; China, Thailand, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico, will collide in the city of Chengdu, China.
All the teams are pumped up to get an edge over their respective contenders as the first-round matches start. It will be a great performance to watch on Sunday when defending champion Brazil will take on their detractors, the Italian team. Brazil went through sheer misery and pain when Italian spikes crushed their whole line-up in 2009 at the World Grand Champions match in Japan. This time around, Brazil surely aims to take the revenge.
Although Brazil is in good form; the Brazilian coach shows concern about the Italian encounter. The coach Ze Roberto said, “The Italian team consists of experienced players in good physical condition and they are technically mature. I think Italy will be our most difficult opponent in the competition”. The coach also expressed his concern about their first-line rivals, Japan, whom they defeated in World Grand Champions Cup in 2009. The coach said, “The Japanese are quick and very organized.”
In the other first round fights, Germany will encounter South American team, which is seeking its sixth World Grand Prix title this season. They have been successful to claim triumph in five Grand titles over the past seven years. The Saturday’s battle between USA and Germany will be a worth-watching show. Germany finished third last year and currently it has the best players with the potential to dominate any volleyball team in the world.
The world No. 2 China has also been preparing for this big occasion since long. They hired a new coach and for this tournament, they have the advantage of their home-crowd. The coach, Wang Baoquan, is confident about the team’s victory and certainly plans to reach the highest spot in the tournament. Baoguan expressed his views, “These matches are a precious platform for the Chinese team to exercise and prepare for the later matches. We will inherit and carry forward the older generation’s tradition of hard-work, arduous struggle and the persistence to strive for success.”
The tournament will progress in three preliminary rounds and one final round, which will conclude the winners of this FIVB Grand Prix 2010 on 29th of this month. Other than China, Poland, and Brazil, next phase of the tournament will take the teams to different parts of South-east Asia such as Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand.
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