FIVB finalises Intercontinental Round Pools for 2012 Volleyball World League
The 2012 FIVB Men’s World League is set to take place from May 18 to July 1 with the Final Round scheduled in Sofia, Bulgaria from July 4 to 8.
A total of 16 best teams from around the world will be on board to contest their skills in front of the international audience. This year, it is going to be the 23 edition of the world’s premier annual men’s volleyball event.
The qualification phase of the tournament finished off in August 2011 and successful teams earned tickets to the tournament. Japan was awarded qualification due to the disaster that shook the country in March 2011.
In the recent memory, the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) revealed the pool composition for the 2012 World League competition, which follows below:
Pool A – Serbia, Russia, Japan, Cuba Pool B – Brazil, Finland, Poland, Canada Pool C – France, Italy, USA, Korea Pool D - Finland, Argentina, Portugal, Germany
According to the set formula of the competition, each team will get the chance to play at home during the intercontinental round. In the first four weeks of the competition, various cities in different countries will set up the field of play for the World
League matches.
The first leg of the tournament will complete its run from May 18 to 27, while the second round of the matches will take centre stage from June 15 to 17. The third session will be played in the same month (June 22 to 24) and the intercontinental round will
reveal the finalists following the fourth leg, which will be covered from June 29 to July 1.
Eventually, the final round will set in with six best teams of the tournament. The grid of finalists will include four pool toppers and best runner-up joining host Bulgaria.
Russia will be playing under the cap of defending champions. They defeated Brazil in the previous edition of the tournament and got hold of the title trophy. The two rivals will extend their rivalries in the upcoming tournament. Brazil, Russia, and Italy
will be the pre-favourites of the tournament. These three teams have claimed 9, 8, and 2 World League Titles since the inception of this event.
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