Top 3 teams of the first round of 2011 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup
The 12th edition of men’s elite volleyball competition, the FIVB World Cup, is underway in Japan with the 12 best teams from across the globe. The Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB), the organising authority of this event, has marked
it as the first step in the qualification process for the upcoming Summer Olympics in London.
The FIVB World Cup started out on November 20 and it is scheduled to complete its run over two weeks. Top three teams of the FIVB World Cup will earn tickets to the London Olympics. Final results and rankings of teams will be revealed on December 4. So buckle
up and keep your fingers crossed to see your favourite team with an Olympic ticket.
So far, the competition has covered one leg. The first round of the competition ran from November 20-22. The grid of twelve teams was sliced into two groups with six teams on each side. Each team played three matches. According to the set rules of FIVB,
three points were given to the victorious team for a straight-set finish, while 2 points were given to the better team in the case of five set game. At the end of the first round, Russia, Poland, and Brazil emerged as the top-3 teams of the competition.
Russia – 1st Poland – 2nd Brazil – 3rd
Russia
Russia is one of the pre-favourites and top contenders in the tournament. Russians hold the distinction of winning the most number of medals since the beginning of FIVB World Cup in 1965. They have a total of 9 medals in their custody, which include 5 Gold,
2 Silver, and two Bronze. They finished second in the previous edition of the competition in 2007. Russia was placed in group B and faced off Italy in the opening match of 2011 FIVB World Cup. Under the visionary leadership of Head Coach Vladimir Alekno, the
Russian ‘army’ performed exquisitely and posted 3- 1 win over Italy. Russians gained a lot of confidence after winning the opening match and repeated another round of victory against China in the next match, 3-0. They played their last match of first round
against USA and clean-swept the opponents. At the end of first round, Russia remained unbeaten and bagged six points.
Currently, the Russian team is holding the top spot in the competition. They are determined to carry out the same momentum in the coming round of the competition and finish in top slot.
Poland
Poles are up in the search of gold-medal this year. They started the campaign with Group A teams and staged a great action on the court. They captured all their matches of first round and defeated Cuba, Serbia, and Argentina along the way. Poland is the
only other team after Russia, which has not dropped any matches in the first leg and has bagged six points. Poles definitely eye the Olympic Ticket and seem quite confident about their performance.
Brazil
Defending champion Brazil, which has won the two last World Cups in 2003 and 2007, has suffered the loss of one match in the first round. Brazil received a defeat from Italy in the five-set thriller. They currently hold the No. 3 spot but hopefully they
will recover the deficit. They still have the chance to prove their endeavours in the upcoming matches. Nevertheless, the competition is tight and there is hardly any space for silly mistakes. Hence, the Brazilian team will only be able to vie for Olympic
Ticket with a display of flawless performance in their next matches.
Tags: