Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-05-31

(BEIJING, May 31)– Portugal and Poland won their first games over Indonesia and Puerto Rico, respectively, on the first day of the 2008 Men’s World Qualification Tournament in Espinho, Portugal, on May 31.

Portugal defeated rival Indonesia in straight sets, 25-23, 25-17, 25- 21, in 62 minutes. Portuguese right attacker Hugo Gaspar shone under the spotlight by scoring 22 points and disarranging the Indonesian block with the help of experienced setter Nuno Pinheiro. In spite of their loss, the Indonesian team did a fantastic job in the match, especially since they were very close in taking the first set.

Portuguese head coach Jorge Schmidt made comments at the press conference after the match, saying that the victory was joyful but not satisfactory. He also said his team had to play much harder and better to defeat Puerto Rico. Team captain Joao Jose added that under such strong pressure from the tournament, they were unable to concentrate at the beginning of the game. Indonesia’s head coach, Hu Xinyo, remarked that due to his team’s lack of experience in large competitions and the absence of a libero, a designated back-row player who is skilled in ball-control, they were in a difficult situation.

Poland beat Puerto Rico also in straight sets, 25-23, 25-18, 25-14 in 73 minutes with a heart-stirring performance. Puerto Rico was unable to defend themselves well against the strong serves and hits from the Polish, especially those from match scorer Michal Winiarski and right attacker Mariusz Wlazly, who were supported by setter Pawel Zagumny.

FIVB Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament, final results:

No Date Teams Set Result per set (points) Total

Points Time Audience

1 2 3 4 5

1 30-May INA-POR 0-3 23-25 17-25 21-25 61-75 1:08 1′200

2 30-May POL-PUR 3-0 25-23 25-18 25-14 75-55 1:19 800

Updated: 2008-05-31

(BEIJING, May 30) — As the men’s Olympic volleyball qualifier gets set to open in Espinho on Friday, teams from host country Portugal, Indonesia, Puerto Rico and Poland are ambitious to grab one of the last remaining tickets for the Beijing Games.

As a result, the competition is sure to be intense. Portugal’s head coach Jorge Schmidt is reported by the FIVB website as saying, “We will do our best but the qualification will not be easy against these world-class teams. I’m happy also to see those strong teams here in Portugal but I think it will not be easy for any team to get the Olympic ticket.”

The Espinho event will decide one of the tickets for the August 10-24 Beijing Olympic Games Volleyball Tournament. The other two will come out at the Olympic qualifier in Tokyo from May 31 to June 8.

(Credit: FIVB)

Updated: 2008-06-12

(BEIJING, June 12)– After the drawing of lots for the Olympic Volleyball tournaments on June 11, Wei Jizhong, the first executive vice-president of the FIVB, explained that new rules would be used to prevent teams from intentionally conceding points in order to affect which opponents they’d face in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournaments.

According to the previous rules, the top four teams of each pool advance to the quarterfinals; the match-ups in the quarterfinals are determined by the win-loss records of teams in the preliminary rounds. This means that teams with no chance of winning the group could play passively with the intention of attaining a specific ranking in their pool and gaining a favorable match-up in the quarterfinals.

Wei said that a draw will now be held after the preliminary rounds to determine which teams will face each other in the quarterfinals. “New rules will come into effect after being confirmed by the FIVB congress on June 17,” said Wei, “Olympic volleyball tournaments are likely to implement the new rules.”

Updated: 2008-06-12

(BEIJING, June 12) – Lots were drawn on June 11 to determine the grouping of teams for the Olympic Men’s and Women’s Volleyball tournaments. The schedule for the preliminary rounds was released shortly after the pools were decided.

The twelve qualified national teams in each tournament were equally divided into pool A and pool B.

In the women’s tournament, pool A consists of Japan, Venezuela, Poland, Cuba, China and the USA; pool B includes Algeria, Serbia, Italy, Russia, Kazakhstan and Brazil.

In the men’s tournament, pool A consists of the USA, Italy, Bulgaria, China, Japan and Venezuela. Pool B consists of Serbia, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Egypt and Russia.

The top four teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals, which begin August 19.

The schedule of the preliminary rounds is as follows. Specific times for matches will be available soon:

Women

Saturday, August 9

Group A

Japan – USA

Venezuela – China

Poland - Cuba

Group B:

Algeria – Brazil

Serbia – Kazakhstan

Italy - Russia

Monday, August 11

Group A

USA – Cuba

China – Poland

Japan – Venezuela

Group B

Brazil – Russia

Kazakhstan – Italy

Algeria - Serbia

Wednesday, August 13

Group A

Venezuela – USA

Poland – Japan

Cuba – China

Group B

Serbia – Brazil

Italy – Algeria

Russia - Kazakhstan

Friday, August 15

Group A

USA – China

Japan – Cuba

Venezuela – Poland

Group B

Brazil – Kazakhstan

Algeria – Russia

Serbia - Italy

Sunday, August 17

Group A

Poland – USA

Cuba – Venezuela

China – Japan

Group B

Italy – Brazil

Russia – Serbia

Kazakhstan - Algeria

Men

Sunday, August 10

Group A

USA – Venezuela

Italy – Japan

Bulgaria - China

Group B

Serbia – Russia

Brazil – Egypt

Poland - Germany

Tuesday, August 12

Group A

\Venezuela – China

Japan – Bulgaria

USA – Italy

Group B

Russia – Germany

Egypt – Poland

Serbia - Brazil

Thursday, August 14

Group A

Italy – Venezuela

Bulgaria – USA

China – Japan

Group B

Brazil – Russia

Poland – Serbia

Germany - Egypt

Saturday, August 16

Group A

Venezuela – Japan

USA – China

Italy – Bulgaria

Group B

Russia – Egypt

Serbia – Germany

Brazil - Poland

Monday, August 18

Group A

Bulgaria – Venezuela

China – Italy

Japan – USA

Group B

Poland – Russia

Germany – Brazil

Egypt - Serbia

Updated: 2008-06-11

(BEIJING, June 11) — At the press conference room of Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on Wednesday, in front of relevant officials, including FIVB first executive vice-president Wei Jizhong and BOCOG executive vice-president Yang Shu’an, Capital Gymnasium employees, and interested media, lots were drawn to determine the order of matches in the preliminary rounds of the Olympic volleyball tournaments.

A total of 24 teams (12 women’s, 12 men’s) were divided into two pools, A and B. Based on a serpentine system which referred to world volleyball rankings as of January 5, 2008, the results of the draw were as follows:

Women’s Pool A: China, Cuba, USA, Japan, Poland, Venezuela

Women’s Pool B: Brazil, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Algeria

Men’s Pool A: China, USA, Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Venezuela

Men’s Pool B: Brazil, Russia, Poland, Serbia, Egypt, Germany

According to tradition, the top four teams in each pool will advance to the quarter-finals, with A1 vs. B4,A2 vs. B3,B2 vs. A3 and B1 vs. A4. However, in order to avoid the problems with this scheme that arose during the Athens Olympics, the game between A1 and B4 will remain the same, but the other matches will be scheduled according to another drawing.

Wei stated that FIVB will decide on arrangements regarding the quarter-finals on at a conference on the 16th or 17th of the month.

Updated: 2008-06-11

Scene of the drawing of lots

Outcome of drawing of lots for Olympic Volleyball competition

(BEIJING, June 11)– Lots were drawn to decide the groupings of the Olympic Volleyball tournament on June 11 beginning at 2 p.m. The groups will be used during the preliminary rounds of the Olympic Volleyball tournament to determine match-ups.

On the men’s side, the Americans, ranked No. 3 in the world, will face No. 10 Italy and the host nation China in group A. Japan, which qualified for the Olympics this past weekend during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tokyo, is also in the group.

Group B in the men’s side has No. 1 Brazil facing off against No. 2 Russia and No. 5 Poland.

The Americans and Chinese will also meet in the preliminary round on the women’s side. They have been put in Group A along with No. 3 Cuba and No. 8 Japan. In Group B, No. 1 Brazil will compete against No. 2 Italy, No. 5 Russian and No. 7 Serbia.

World rankings are up-to-date as of January 5, 2008, according to the official website of the International Volleyball Federation.

The teams for the Olympic tournaments have been divided as follows:

On the men’s side:

Group A:

U.S.A. (A1)

Italy (A2)

Bulgaria (A3)

China (A4)

Japan (A5)

Venezuela (A6)

Group B:

Serbia (B1)

Brazil (B2)

Poland (B3)

Germany (B4)

Egypt (B5)

Russia (B6)

On the women’s side:

Group A:

Japan (A1)

Venezuela (A2)

Poland (A3)

Cuba (A4)

China (A5)

America (A6)

Group B:

Algeria (B1)

Serbia (B2)

Italy (B3)

Russia (B4)

Kazakhstan (B5)

Brazil (B6)

Updated: 2008-06-11

(BEIJING, June 11) — Drawing of lots for the Olympic Women’s and Men’s Volleyball Tournaments is set to begin at 2 p.m. on June 11. The draw will determine the grouping of the teams in each tournament for the preliminary rounds.

The draw will take place in the Press Conference Hall at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. IT will be conducted by BOCOG under the supervision of FIVB First Executive vice-president Wei Jizhong.

The 12 teams competing in the Olympic Men’s Volleyball tournament are China, Brazil, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Japan, Serbia, USA, Venezuela, Germany, Italy and Poland.

The 12 teams competing in the women’s tournament are China, Italy, Brazil, USA, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Poland, Serbia and Japan.