Pool E: Dominican Republic – China
Head-to-head
• Their only two previous meetings at the World Championship came in 2006 and 2010. In both cases, they met in the first round and in both cases China won in straight sets.
• Dominican Republic have yet to defeat or take a set from Asian opposition at the World Championship. Four meetings against AVC adversaries resulted in four defeats and 12 lost sets.
• In major competitions, Dominican Republic have beaten China only once in 16 attempts. In the preliminary round of the 2010 World Grand Prix, the Caribbean side eked out a five-set win.
Dominican Republic
• Dominican Republic are one of only four teams that have won all of their seven matches in this tournament. The others are awaiting opponents China and otherwise Brazil and USA.
• Combined with their victory to close out their 2010 campaign, Dominican Republic have now won eight world championship matches in a row. They had won only 10 of their previous 38 matches in the competition.
• Dominican Republic's last failure to win a World Championship match came on 2 November 2010, when they were defeated by China in straight sets.
China
• China have earned a passage into the third round. Italy and Dominican Republic can still overtake them in Pool E, but fourth placed Japan cannot. Japan can still match China in points, however not in wins.
• China are guaranteed a top six finish. They finished in the top six in eight of their previous 12 participations and are certain to improve on their performance from four years ago, a 10th place finish.
• China have dropped only two sets in this tournament, both in their first round match against Japan.
• China's seven match winning streak at the World Championship is their longest in the competition since winning 20 in a row from 1982 to 1990.