Peru celebrate their win over Costa Rica which saw them qualify for the second round from Pool A

The FIVB Women's World Championship started with 24 teams when it opened on October 29 and encompasses five cities across first and second rounds, semifinals and finals. The top four teams in the four first-round (Oct 29 - Nov 3) pools advanced to the second round (Nov. 6 - Nov. 10) and the top six teams in the each of these next two pools will advance to the semifinals (Nov. 13) and finals (Nov 14).

Pool A in Tokyo
World No. 5 Japan finished on top of Pool A after winning the crucial top of the group clash with Serbia, ranked ninth in the world, 3-1 (28-26, 29-27, 18-25, 27-25) in an amazing contest. Leading the way for Japan was their ace, Saori Kimura who top scored with 27, many of them at key moments while captain Jelena Nikolic was Serbia’s leading scorer with 25. Earlier, Peru booked the fourth and final second round spot in Pool A after a well-worked 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 32-34, 25-19) win over Costa Rica, which included a record-equaling score in the third set for the highest set score in an FIVB Women’s World Championship. With both sides boasting 1:3 win:loss records going into the match, the winner was guaranteed survival in the FIVB Women's World Championship Japan 2010 while the loser would go home with Peru eventually staying on in what was the first match between the two countries in an FIVB competition. Peru’s scoring was well-distributed, led by Patricia Soto and Jessenia Uceda with 18 each and captain Leyla Chihuan 16. As they were all tournament, Costa Rica were driven by their V.W. - Verania Willis - who posted a monster game with 24 points. “Today we had a clear objective - to win and qualify for the second round,” Peru coach Kim Cheol Yong said. “That’s why we were a little nervous, but I’m pleased with our result. We know more difficult matches will come in the second round.” Poland meanwhile improved to three-and-two in first round play, winning handily against winless Algeria (25-17, 25-16, 25-12) who now return home. The win represented a good return of three wins on the trot for Poland after dropping their initial two matches to Japan and Serbia.

Pool B in Hamamatsu
World No. 1 Brazil finished the first round in fine form with five wins from as many matches, taking three key victories with them into the second round after overpowering World Grand Champions Cup title holders and world No. 4 Italy 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-7) in the final match of the group on Wednesday. With second round teams taking with them the points earned against fellow second round teams into the next phase, Brazil’s performance against Italy (3:2), who ended up finishing third in the group on points difference thanks to the substantial defeat, was both impressive and surprising. “It wasn’t a perfect match, but almost,” Brazil coach Jose Guimaraes said. “Of course I’m very happy with my team. We did very good work in serving, defence, blocking and counter-attack. Natalia (top scorer with 25 points) played very well tonight, she’s a young player, she can still improve more and more with more experience in the future.” Meanwhile, the Netherlands (3:2) and the Czech Republic (3:2) confirmed their places in the second round with straight-sets victories over Puerto Rico (25-12, 25-13, 25-16) and Kenya (25-20, 25-15, 25-20) respectively. Puerto Rico and Kenya finished fifth and sixth with 1:4 and 0:5 records respectively.

Pool C in Matsumoto
World No. 2 USA topped Pool C with five wins from five after recording their 16^th successive victory in all competitions with a 3-1 (30-28, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23) win over Cuba, who also advanced to the second round thanks to their superior points ratio. Cuba finished the group in third place with two wins and three defeats, a similar record to Thailand and Croatia but Thailand, who lost to Germany 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-10), finished fourth ahead of Croatia - who beat winless Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) in the first match between the two countries in an FIVB competition - thanks to a better points ratio. “Today was a difficult match because we didn't have much of a chance to advance, so it was difficult to find the stimulation to play a match that doesn't have much importance for us,” Croatia captain Maja Poljak said after their win. “But I'm happy we left with our heads up and we gave our best to the very end. I'm sorry two wins weren’t enough to continue in the competition. It's the first time for us to compete here (since 1998) and I'm really happy with the two wins.”

Pool D in Osaka
With the top four teams in Pool D already decided (Russia, Korea, Turkey, China), it was left to see which teams could obtain points for the next phase with defending champions Russia racking up their fifth consecutive victory thanks to a straight sets (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) triumph over China. The victory clinched the group for the Russians, while China advanced to the second round with a 2-3 record. The match pitted the two highest world-ranked teams in the pool with China third and Russia seventh. Tatiana Kosheleva led Russia with 20 points while Russia’s top scorer for the tournament Ekaterina Gamova registered 14. In other results, Korea held off Turkey in a five-set thriller (16-25, 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13) to improve to 4-1, while Turkey dropped to 3-2 with the defeat, while the Dominican Republic beat Canada 3-1 (21-25, 28-26, 25-11, 25-20) in the battle between the two winless teams.

Second Round Pools

Pool Standings
Pool A (Tokyo): Japan 10, Serbia 9, Poland 8, Peru 7, Costa Rica 6, Algeria 5

Pool B (Hamamatsu): Brazil 10, Netherlands 8, Italy 8, Czech Republic 8, Puerto Rico 6, Kenya 5

Pool C (Matsumoto): USA 10, Germany 9, Cuba 7, Thailand 7, Croatia 7, Kazakhstan 5

Pool D (Osaka): Russia 10, Korea 9, Turkey 8, China 7, Dominican Republic 6, Canada 5

Highest Scorer By Day

Day 1 (1^st Rd): 28 points by Destinee Hooker (USA) in USA’s 3-1 win over Thailand in Matsumoto
Day 2 (1^st Rd): 35 points by Manon Flier (NED) in Italy’s 3-2 win over the Netherlands in Hamamatsu

Day 3 (1^st Rd): 27 points by Neslihan Darnel (TUR) in Turkey’s 3-2 win over the Dominican Republic in Osaka
Day 4 (1^st Rd): 34 points by Aneta Havlickova (CZE) in Czech Republic’s 3-2 win over Italy in Hamamatsu
Day 5 (1^st Rd): 29 points by Neslihan Darnel (TUR) in Korea’s 3-2 win over Turkey in Osaka

Highest Set Score

34-32 (CRO v CUB in Pool C) played on October 29 (Day 1) in Matsumoto and (PER v CRC in Pool A) played on November 3 in Tokyo. * Women’s World Championship records

Highest Scoring Matches

235 (CZE v ITA in 1^st Round) 3-2 (25-27, 27-29,         25-23, 25-22, 17-15) played on November 2 in Hamamatsu
220 (POL v JPN in 1st Round) 2-3 (28-26, 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 12-15) played on October 29 in Tokyo
218 (NED v ITA in 1^st Round) 2-3 (25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 28-26, 12-15) played on October 30 in Hamamatsu
212 (TUR v DOM in 1^st Round)         3-2 (25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 23-25, 17-15) played on October 31 in Osaka
211 (CZE v BRA in 1^st Round) 2-3 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 9-15) played on October 30 in Hamamatsu

Tournament Top Scorers

132 Neslihan Darnel (TUR)
99 Saori Kimura (JPN)
97 Yeon-Koung Kim (KOR)
95 Prisilla Rivera Brens (DOM)
93 Manon Flier (NED)

Birthdays on November 5

Antonella Del Core (ITA) turns 30

FIVB Tournaments Coming Soon

FIVB Club World Championships (December 14-21, 2010)  in Doha, Qatar

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships (June 17-26, 2011) Rome, Italy