FIVB Grand Prix 2010 – six mighty contenders make it to the final phase
The women’s volleyball passion lives on for fourth week. The FIVB Grand Prix 2010 has touched the last phase of the game. It is the final round of game, which is scheduled to be held from 25-29 August 2010. There have been amazing performances in the first three preliminary rounds and best teams of the tournament have placed in the top-rankings. The 4th-round of the game will conclude the first five positions for remaining six teams.
Brazil
The defending champion Brazil is the favourite team of the championship as it finished the third round with a maximum of 24 points. Out of nine competitions in the first three rounds, Brazil won 8 matches and lost only one match. Brazil received a shocking upset defeat from Italy in the first-preliminary round but it happened only once. They reinvigorated their defence and attack crew and dominated every other team in the championship afterwards. They had an overall good result in every game as they lost only 4 sets in the total of 29 sets. Brazil captured the first spot in all rounds of the game and now they are headed for the final kill in order to secure the title for another year.
United States of America
On the other hand, the world saw United States’ outstanding come-back in the game as they jumped from fifth place to second spot at the end of third round. The U.S. team claimed 7-matches victory in the first three weeks of the game and lost only two matches. The damage was done to U.S. in the first round of the championship. They lost their first match to Germany while Polish team defeated them in the second match at their home-city Gdynia. Somehow, the American team left everyone behind in the next two rounds and earned 21 points at the end of preliminary rounds. Out of 33 sets, they only lost 10 sets.
Poland
The next best contender is Poland which shares 21 points with U.S. team. Polish team has been assigned the third slot in FIVB Grand Prix 2010 standings. They have same match-win ratio as United States but they are behind U.S. team on account of their overall points.
Japan
The Japanese team was head-to-head with Poland in the points’ race in the first two rounds but they lost energy in third round and fell back. Japan claimed 9-match victory in the initial three weeks. Their performance was steady in the first two round but they experienced a major blow in the third phase where they lost two matches. Nonetheless, Japanese team has secured fourth spot in the standing and they will play the final round matches along other best five teams.
Italy
Italy, which stunned everyone with an upset win over the Brazilian team in the first round also made its mark and remained in the green region at the end of third round of FIVB Grand Prix 2010. Italy progressed with an average pace. They lost one game in each round of the championship but they steadily paved their way to final round of the game. They attained 19 points on the basis of their 6-match win ratio.
China
The last team which qualified for the final round is host nation China. The sixth-spot is captured by Chinese team. They played all their matches in their own cities but couldn’t achieve a big breakthrough. They share 19 points with Italy and Japan. The final round of the game is being staged in Chinese city Ningbo. This is their only chance to make a difference and improve their ranking in the tournament.
Every team will play five matches in the final round and top-ranking will be awarded to five surviving teams.
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