Russia and returning Gamova out for hat-trick of world titles

Lausanne, Switzerland, September 23, 2014.  The FIVB Volleyball Women’s Volleyball World Championship Italy 2014 opens today with 12 matches on the first day of competition in Rome, Bari, Verona and Trieste.  The first whistle will sound exactly one hour from now, at 10:30 local time.

The World Championship involves 24 teams competing in the first round with four venues hosting round-robin events with six teams each.

Olympic gold in 2012, historic 10th title at the World Grand Prix less than a month ago, the Grand Champions Cup and South American Championship in 2013: Brazil’s volleyball ladies have won all of these titles.  Which makes it almost impossible to believe that the skillful South Americans are still waiting for their first ever World Championship title. Naturally they want to change this at the 17th FIVB Women’s World Championship, held in Italy from this Tuesday through October 12.

“After the dream year in 2013 and the recent 10th victory in the World Grand Prix, it goes without saying that we will be striving to finally get our hands on this title,” said Brazil’s successful coach Ze Roberto before Tuesday’s opening match against Bulgaria in Trieste.  However, a glance at the history of the World Championship reveals exactly why Ze Roberto is wary of the threat posed by one team in particular: defending champions Russia.  The Russian giants have twice defeated Brazil by 3:2 in the final to win the World Championship titles in 2006 and 2010, meaning that the Brazilians’ three silver medals (including 1994) remain their greatest success to date in the World Championships.

The task has been made all the more difficult by the fact that the lady widely regarded as the best female volleyball player in the world, Ekaterina Gamova, is making a surprise return to the Russian national team.  Gamova had retired from international volleyball after the bitter quarterfinal defeat to fierce rival Brazil at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, when the Russian team failed to convert match points.  Now the 202-cm tall attacker is back, and just in time for Tuesday’s first match against Thailand in Verona.  Her return is not money-motivated, but because she wants “to win another title with my native Russia”.  The match-winning player of the last two World Championship finals now has her sights set on a hat-trick of titles.

To date, only the predecessor state the Soviet Union has achieved this feat – at the first three FIVB Women’s World Championships in 1952, 1956 and 1960.  In addition to these two top teams, there are numerous other teams who are hoping to win the title. On the up again are the Japanese.  They won their first Grand Prix medal this year on home soil and challenged the dominant Brazilian team till the last match.  They are hungry for the title, having won the last of their three World Championship gold medals back in 1974.

Two-time world champion China has made remarkable progress in a short time under the guidance of the returning “Jenny” Lang Ping, who won silver as the US coach at her home Olympics in Beijing in 2008.  Turkey showed really strong performances this year and was the only team in this year’s World Grand Prix to beat Brazil.  Germany could also be good for a surprise – the team won the international tournament in Montreux at the end of the spring, ahead of top nations such as Brazil and Russia.  It goes without saying that Olympic silver medalists USA, whose most recent success at the World Championships came in the form of a second place in 2002, are always a hot favorite.

Marco Bonitta is someone who knows how to win an FIVB Women’s World Championship title.  He led the Italian women to victory at the showdown in 2002 and has been charged with the task of repeating this legendary success in front of the home crowd.  It is for this reason that he has been called up as coach once again – and he will start this mission on Tuesday in Rome against Tunisia in the first round of the championship.  A lot of “old stars”, like setter Eleonora LoBianco, Carolina Costangrande and Francesca Piccinini, are back in the hosts’ team.

“The first round will be fundamental, so we will have to win a lot,” Bonitta comments.  “The format for this World Championship is an excellent one and I am enthusiastic about it.  I think the final will be interesting and hopefully Italy will be part of it.”

It will be a first for the great volleyball nation: Italy has hosted many women’s competitions in the past - the FIVB Junior World Championship in 1985, four European Championships (1971, 1991, 1999 and 2011) and three finals of the FIVB Grand Prix (2003, 2004, and 2006) – but this is the first time that the FIVB Women’s World Championship will be held here.  The 17th staging of the title showdown is set to become the biggest celebration of women in the history of volleyball.

FIVB President Ary Graça is confident that “the marvelous country” of Italy, with its great tradition of sport and culture, will host one of the best World Championships ever.  “We are pleased to have Italy host such an important event.  The country is known for its passion for volleyball and its commitment to producing top notch action,” said Graça.  “Italy’s volleyball will produce an unforgettable event.”

The 24 teams that qualified for the highlight of the year in Italy are divided into four pools of six teams for the first round, which will start on Tuesday.  Four cities - Rome, Trieste, Bari and Verona, will each host a pool.  The top four teams in each pool will advance to the second round in Bari, Trieste, Verona and Modena, where the 16 teams will be split into two pools of eight, with the top three in each pool advancing to the third round.

This round will consist of a round-robin system, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the semifinals. The 103rd and last match of the tournament will be the final, which will take place in Milan on October 12.

Click here for more info on the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014.