Zhu Ting and her teammates from World No. 5 China have claimed the first ticket for the third round at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Italy
Trieste, Italy, October 2, 2014 – World No. 5 China have claimed the first ticket for the third round at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Italy. The Asian side outclassed Croatia in straight sets on Thursday evening. USA, World No. 1 Brazil and host Italy made huge steps towards the final round as well, remaining in comfortable positions in their pools.
China swept Croatia 3-0 in Trieste to secure their spot in Round III of the World Championships. The Asian side remain at the top of the standings in Pool E with 14 points, out of reach of Japan, Croatia, Belgium or Germany. Italy have won their duel with Belgium in straight sets as well to gain a huge advantage in the race for a place in Round III. Italy need just two points in their two remaining games or just two sets against Japan to go through.
Japan have defeated Germany 3-2 in Trieste but at great cost. The Asian side trail the Dominican Republic by three points in the Pool E standings and with only two legs of Round II to go their chances of a placing amongst the top six are waning. In Bari, the Dominican Republic have come from one set down to take all three points against Azerbaijan with a 3-1 win.
In Pool F, World No. 2 USA defeated Bulgaria in straight sets to claim all three points from the match and remain comfortable at the top of Pool F, ready to claim their own ticket to Round III on their next match on Saturday. Brazil have minimized damages to one set lost in Verona, coming from 0-1 down to defeat the Netherlands 3-1. The reigning Olympic champions remain securely in second place in Pool F, trailing only USA by one point and with a very comfortable four-point advantage over fourth-placed Russia.
Turkey completed an epic comeback for a huge upset, defeating Russia 3-2 in Modena. Russia have lost two of their last three World Championship matches. The defending champions have now dropped outside the promotion zone in Pool F, with Serbia taking advantage of the Russian's defeat to overtake them by a point. The Serbs have swept past Kazakhstan 3-0 earlier on Thursday.
After a travel and rest day on Friday, the second round of the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship will resume on Saturday with the third competition day of Round II.
A total of 32 matches are played during the second phase of the tournament, running from October 1-5 in the Italian cities of Bari, Trieste, Verona and Modena with the best three teams of Pool E and Pool F advancing to the third competition round.
POOL E (in Trieste & Bari): Italy, Dominican Republic, Croatia, Germany, China, Japan, Belgium, Azerbaijan
POOL F (in Modena & Verona): Brazil, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, USA, Russia, Netherlands, Kazakhstan
Pool E
Dominican Republic-Azerbaijan / 3-1 / VIEWGermany-Japan / 2-3 /
VIEWItaly-Belgium / 3-0 /
VIEWCroatia-China / 0-3 /
VIEW
Pool F
Serbia-Kazakhstan / 3-0 / VIEWTurkey-Russia / 3-2 /
VIEWBrazil-Netherlands / 3-1 /
VIEWBulgaria-USA / 0-3 /
VIEW
TOP PERFORMANCES
Top scorer by day
Polina Rahimova- 33 of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
Brankica Mihajlovic- 31 of Serbia v Bulgaria on 24-9-14
Polina Rahimova- 32 of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
Lise Van Hecke- 23 of Belgium v Azerbaijan on 27-9-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-31 of Russia v USA on 28-9-14
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-30 of Dominican Republic v Belgium and
Lise Van Hecke-30 of Belgium v Dominican Republic on 1-10-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-32 of Russia v Turkey on 2-10-14
Top scoring performances
33- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
32- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
32- Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia v Turkey on 2-10-14
31- Brankica Mihajlovic of Serbia v Bulgaria on 24-9-14
31- Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia v USA on 28-9-14
Top blocking performances
10- Kubra Akman of Turkey v Bulgaria on 25-9-14
9- Zhu Ting of China v Japan on 28-9-14
Top serving performances
6- Regla Gracia Gonzalez of Cuba v Azerbaijan on 29-9-14
5- Mizuho Ishida of Japan v Azerbaijan on 23-9-14
5- Margareta Kozuch of Germany v Croatia on 28-9-14
Top team blocking performances
24- Brazil v Turkey on 27-9-14
19- China v Japan on 28-9-14
Top team serving performances
13- Croatia v Tunisia on 27-9-14
12- Germany v Croatia on 28-9-14
Highest scoring sets
36-34 Thailand v Mexico (2nd set) on 25-9-14
34-32 USA v Russia (1st set) on 28-9-14
32-30 Netherlands v Mexico (1st set) on 28-9-14
Highest scoring matches
220- USA v Russia 3-1 (34-32, 25-19, 29-31, 26-24) on 28-9-14
218- Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 16-25, 17-15) on 25-9-14
218- Croatia v Dominican Republic 2-3 (22-25, 13-25, 25-22, 26-24, 17-19) on 25-9-14
218- Turkey v Russia 3-2 (19-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 15-13) on 2-10-14
217- Dominican Republic v Germany 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13) on 23-9-14