Lausanne, 1st October 2007 – After the entry list of the 12 Men’s teams, the FIVB could release today the list of the 12 Women’s teams competing for the FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2007, the first of three Olympic qualification steps for Beijing 2008.
The FIVB and the organizers (Japanese Volleyball Association and Fuji Television) have decided today to assign the two wild cards to Poland and the Dominican Republic. Many aspects were considered for this choice, like the increasing level of Volleyball development in these countries and the good position in their Continental Championships.
The last entries were decided yesterday: Italy won for the first time in the history of the European Championship, beating Serbia, while Brazil won their 15th South American Championship thanks to their last victory against Peru.
The list of the 12 Women’s teams for the FIVB World Cup 2007:
1. Japan (host country)
2. Italy (Europe champion)
3. Cuba (Norceca champion)
4. Brazil (South America champion)
5. Thailand (Asia championship: best after Japan and China)
6. Kenya (Africa champion)
7. Serbia (Europe vice-champion)
8. Peru (South America vice-champion)
9. Korea (Asia championship: best after Thailand)
10. U.S.A. (Norceca vice-champion)
11. Poland (wild card)
12. Dominican Republic (wild card)
The best 4 continental vice-champions, according to the World Cup rules, were chosen following the World Ranking of January 2007 (http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Rankings/Rank_women_2007_01.asp).
The list of the 12 Men’s teams for the FIVB World Cup 2007 was delivered last week:
1. Japan (host country)
2. Spain (Europe champion)
3. U.S.A. (Norceca champion)
4. Brazil (South America champion)
5. Australia (Asia champion)
6. Egypt (Africa champion)
7. Russia (Europe vice-champion)
8. Puerto Rico (Norceca vice-champion)
9. Argentina (South America vice-champion)
10. Tunisia (Africa vice-champion)
11. Bulgaria (wild card)
12. Korea (wild card)
The FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2007 is the first step in the Olympic Qualification process towards Beijing: the 3 best Men’s and 3 best Women’s teams will join the Chinese teams, already qualified for the 2008 Olympics as host country.
The 12 Men’s and the 12 Women’s teams are now ready to leave for Japan to compete. The Women’s event is going to start on November 2nd and finish on November 16th when the last match is scheduled in Nagoya. The Men’s tournament will be held from November 18th to December 2nd, with the last games in Tokyo.
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