The bottom-four of 2011 FIVB World League – Volleyball News (Part1)
At the end of the second-week of 2011 FIVB World League, Puerto Rico, Japan, Finland and France are at the losing end of the competition. They are placed in Pool A, B, C, and D respectively. France is the only country in the group of four unsuccessful teams,
which has scored one victory. The rest of the three teams have not been able to create any fireworks on the court and have lost all their matches. Let’s take a quick recap of the events:
Puerto Rico
The Men’s National Volleyball Team of Puerto Rico comes on top of the “Losing Four”. It was the first time in the history of FIVB World League that Puerto Rico qualified for the competition. The team had proved its metal at the national level and also took
part in various other international events but never appeared on the courts of the FIVB World League. The Year 2011 brought a lot of luck and created a chance for them to earn qualifications for the elite men’s international event. The head coach, Carlos Cardona,
worked hard and assembled a team of the best players from Puerto Rico. Players like Hector Soto and Jose Rivera were included on the team’s roster.
Before entering the competition, Team Puerto Rico was under huge focus because they will bring out something new to the FIVB World League. However, by hook or by crook, Puerto Rico would find a place in Pool A with the toughest teams of the world. Brazil,
the defending champion; USA, the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix title holder; and Poland, the host of the Final Round of the competition and already qualified for the final stage.
In the first week, Puerto Rico had to put up with Brazil in two matches. Although, Puerto Rico had the advantage of playing at home, they failed to win any of the matches. In the next week, Team Puerto Rico contested its skill-set with the U.S. Team. Sadly,
the results remained the same. Puerto Rico did a little better and managed to secure one set in each match but the overall performance didn’t improve. Hence, Puerto Rico firmly held the bottom slot in the rankings.
The preliminary round of the 2011 FIVB World League will enter the third week now and Puerto Rico is scheduled to take on Poland. Afterwards, the game will span over three weeks and Puerto Rico will be challenged by the same pool members. So far, the team
has failed to create a good impression but their hopes are still alive. Let’s see if they can do better against the Poles in the coming games.
Japan
Japan has been featured in the previous 17 editions of the FIVB World League. The team has always participated in the competition as an active member. They did not compete last year but before that, their highest finish is the sixth slot. This year, the
team has opened up the campaign in the aftermath of a great natural disaster. Japan was hit by a deadly earth-quack in the month of March. There were rumours that Japan would not be able to take part in the tournament but the final roster of the 2011 FIVB
World League included Japan. They were grouped in Pool B alongside Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. The Japanese team had the daunting task of coping with last year’s runner-up team, Russia, in the first week. Russia proved to be too strong for Japan and thrashed
a straight-set victory in the round opener. In the next match, Japanese players resisted in full force and captured one set of the game. A one-set victory was not enough to save them from embarrassment as the Russian ‘army’ pulled off success in the rest of
the three sets.
In the second week, Japan received a defeat from Bulgaria. The match spanned over four sets, where Bulgaria performed in a great way and clinched success. Team Japan is scheduled one more match with Bulgaria on Sunday, June 5. It is more likely that Bulgaria
will easily overcome Japan as they have performed very well in their previous matches. Bulgaria comes after Russia in the Pool B rankings.
Continued in part 2...
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