European Women past the halfway point of Preliminary Round

The women’s competition at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 is past its halfway point with all teams completing three out of their five games. Serbia and Italy are among the four teams who are yet to lose the match in the competition as the battle for quarterfinals is heating up at the bottom of both pools. Four teams from each pool will reach the quarterfinal phase, but as it’s been proven this week, becoming one of "the four" may not be as easy as you’d think!

Pool A

Serbia, the only European team in Pool A, is also the only team to have yet lose a set in this group. After three straight-set victories the Serbian team keeps the top position in the pool with 9 points, with Brazil trailing behind without a loss either, having won 8 points so far. But those stats will be changing for one of these two teams on Saturday, when Serbia and Brazil finally meet on court in Tokyo. Serbians dominate both on court and across individual statistics with the likes of Tijana Boskovic scoring record-breaking points tallies, so their clash against Brazil will be the one to watch in Pool A!

Things seem quite predictable in Pool A, with Serbia and Brazil unlikely to drop their leading positions and Kenya yet to score any points or record any wins at Tokyo 2020. Korea and Japan completing the top four teams of this group are the more likely scenario, but Dominican Republic could still pull off a come back and take over Japan’s current fourth place. Dominicans proved to be a difficult opponent if they want, having taken Brazil into the five-setter earlier this week. The queens of Caribbean will be facing Kenya on Saturday, while Japan will play with Korea. Both Dominican Republic and Japan will clash in their last match of the round and the result may directly decide who continues their journey into the Quarterfinals. It might also be an entertaining one, as both teams pulled a thrilling five-setter back in June during Volleyball Nations League, with Japan emerging victorious.
The round will finish with Serbians taking on Korea, while Kenya will be playing with Brazil.

Pool B

The third day of women’s competition spiced things up in Pool B. Similarly to Serbia in Pool A, Italians hold the first position in their group after winning all three games so far, getting 9 points. USA trail behind with 3 wins of their own and 8 points. Their match against Turkey is one of the reasons why the fight at the bottom of Pool B is going to be tough in the coming days. Americans led 2-0 against Turkey, but European team bounced back taking USA into a five-setter. The Turkish side were close to winning, but the loss keeps them in fourth position with just one victory and four points. There is no room for mistakes now, if Turkey want to reach the Quarter-finals phase. Their main threat, although not in direct clash, will be China who are yet to secure a win in Tokyo 2020.
ROC had an emotional game on Thursday, having played a five-set game against the reigning Olympic champions. China were 2-1 ahead, but ROC managed to turn the odds in their favour, serving China their third upset in the pool. ROC began their campaign with a loss against Italy, following by a win with Argentina. Had they lost to China on Thursday, their own situation would look much more serious, but at the moment they hold third position in the pool with 2 wins and 5 points. Chinese team is currently 5th, with one point and the only team who is trailing behind them is Argentina.

While Italy and USA have solid foundations in their Quarter-final bid, ROC, Turkey and China are not yet safe nor have an easy task ahead of them. ROC will be facing USA and Turkey in their next two games and at least one victory would be needed to strengthen their campaign. Aside from their challenge against ROC, Turkey will be playing Argentina. China need to win both of their games and rely on the results between other teams in Pool B to make it to the Quarter-finals. Irina Koroleva, the middle blocker of ROC team did not underestimate China, even after the victorious five-setter. “At the previous Olympics, they also at first didn't do very well, but then they became gold medallists, so you never know”, she recalled China’s campaign at Rio 2016. China finished fourth in their pool back then, only to succeed in with the highest honour of the competition. Koroleva was also rather cautious about medal chances for her own team. ”I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet because there are still a lot of strong teams in our group.”, she emphasised.