Press release

Fukuoka, Japan, November 28, 2011 – The FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup Japan 2011 continues to showcase key matches relevant to 2012 Olympic Games qualification, and nearly all six matches on November 28 will be meaningful to the standings for awarding the three berths available from the World Cup to the London Games.

Iran (4-2, 9 points) opens Fukuoka Site A versus Egypt (1-5, 3 points) at 11.00, which will be followed by Poland (5-1, 16 points) against United States (3-3, 9 points) at 15.00 and Japan (1-5, 5 points) hosting China (0-6, 1 point) at 18.20 in an all-Asia Confederation battle. At Hamamatsu, the second day of the third round kicks off with Russia (5-1, 15 points) against Argentina (3-3, 9 points) at 11.00, followed by Brazil (5-1, 15 points) versus Cuba (4-2, 12 points) at 15.00 and Italy (4-2, 11 points) versus Serbia (1-5, 3 points) at 18.20.

The top eight teams are separated by two wins and seven points with five matches remaining, including three teams with a 5-1 record. After the first day of the third round, Poland continue to take the top spot with 16 points, while Russia and Brazil are second and third with 5-1 records and 15 points. Cuba leaped to fourth place with 12 points and a 4-2 record, followed by Italy at 4-2 and 11 points. Iran are position in sixth place with a 4-2 record and nine points, followed by the USA and Argentina at 3-3 and nine points. Round out the standings are Japan in ninth place, Serbia in 10th place, Egypt in 11th place and China in 12th place.

All told, the 12 teams will play 11 matches each over a 15-day schedule with the top three teams earning a berth into the 2012 Olympic Games.

Third Round Pool A at Fukuoka

Iran versus Egypt
Iran had their record fall to 4-2 in the FIVB World Cup and remain stuck at nine points after losing to USA to open the third round. The Asian champions hold wins over Japan, Serbia, Poland and Argentina with losses to NORCECA members Cuba and USA. Egypt are 1-5 in the tournament having lost three straight after defeating China on Nov. 22 to conclude the first round.

Iran’s Seyed Mehdi Bazargarde leads his team in scoring with 71 points, while Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi adds 59 points. Egypt’s Ahmed Abdelhay has notched 103 points for third best in the tournament, including a tournament-high 30 points in a four-set loss to Japan on Nov. 27. He also leads the tournament in Best Spiker with a 56.9 attack percent.

The Iran-Egypt series is in its infancy with both teams having won one of two matches. Egypt topped Iran in straight sets during the 2010 FIVB World Championship first round, while Iran defeated Egypt in five sets during the 2009 FIVB Grand Champions Cup

Poland versus USA
Poland maintain their FIVB World Cup leadership with a 5-1 record and 16 points, despite losing the first set to winless China before rallying to win 3-1 to open the third round. Poland won their four five matches of the tournament against Cuba, Argentina, Serbia, and Japan before losing to Iran in five sets to end the second round. USA started the third round with a convincing three-set win over Iran to level their record to 3-3 in the FIVB World Cup with nine points. The North Americans have now defeated Iran, Egypt and China to offset losses to the top three teams in the world – No. 1 Brazil, No. 2 Russia and No. 3 Italy.

Poland’s Bartosz Kurek paces Poland with 80 points, while Zbigniew Bartman has added 75 points and Michael Winiarski 68 points. Marcin Mozdzonek ranks atop the Best Blocker category with a 1.00 block average. Poland’s Pawel Zagumny ranks as the second leading setter with 7.50 running sets average. USA captain Clayton Stanley has tallied 102 points in the tournament, including 15 blocks and 17 aces. He leads the Best Server category with 0.85 aces per set while converting 52.63 percent of his spikes for fifth in Best Spiker. He also averages 0.75 blocks for fourth place. On defense, USA’s Richard Lambourne averages 2.45 digs per set to lead Best Diggers.

Poland lead the USA 12-10 in the series with 15 of the matches played as part of the FIVB World League competition. In 2011 alone, the teams split four FIVB World League matches with each country winning one match on the other’s team’s home court. Poland and USA have never met in a FIVB World Cup competition before the November 28 contest.

Japan versus China
Japan broke a five-match losing streak to open the 2011 FIVB World Championship by defeating Egypt 3-1 to start the third round. The Japanese are now 1-5 with five points for fifth place, which includes five-set losses to Argentina and Serbia. China are 0-5 in the tournament, but have played better in the last two matches. China extended Brazil to five sets for their first point of the tournament, then scored an opening set victory over Poland before falling in four sets.

Japanese star Kunihiro Shimizuo has pounded out 98 points in the tournament to rank fifth overall, while Yusuke Ishijima has tallied 56 points. Takeshi Nagano has provided Japan with 2.24 digs per set for second place in Best Digger. Ping Chen has contributed 65 points for China’s team leadership.

Japan have won 26 of 41 meetings with China, but it has been China winning the most recent two meetings in the series. China topped Japan in a five-set battle during at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the last meeting of the two Asian rival teams. When these two teams have met on the court, fans have been treated to some exciting lengthy matches as seven of the last 12 meetings have gone the distance and been decided in five sets.

Third Round Pool B at Hamamatsu

Russia versus Argentina
Russia have now won two matches in a row to improve to 15 points with a 5-1 record after defeating European champion Serbia to open the third round. Russia hold other 2011 FIVB World Cup victories over Italy, USA, Egypt and China, while their only loss is to Brazil. Meanwhile, Argentina enter the match with a 3-3 record and nine points after losing to Brazil in three sets to start the third round. Argentina hold victories against Cuba (3-1), Serbia (3-0) and Japan (3-2), but have also losses to Poland (3-1) and Iran (3-2).

Maxim Mikhaylov has scored a Russia-high 97 points as the rest of the team has provided balanced scoring through the first six matches. He ranks second in Best Server with a 0.55 ace average. Teammate Sergey Tetyukhin ranks third in Best Spiker with a 55.26 attack percent. Argentina’s Facundo Conte has scored a team-high 88 points, while setter Luciano De Cecco is leading the Best Setter category with 9.08 running sets average. Pablo Crer has notched 0.71 blocks per set for Argentina, while teammate Sebastian Sole is 10th in the category with 0.63 per set.

“Argentina is a young team, and the last time we faced them [in the FIVB World Championship] they played organized volleyball,” Russia coach Vladimir Alekno said. “But we will do our best against them.”

Russia have won 10 of the previous 11 meetings with Argentina, including the past six. In the last meeting, Russia topped Argentina in three sets in the 2010 FIVB World Championship third round. Argentina’s lone victory was a five-set win in the 1990 FIVB World Championship qualification round.

Brazil versus Cuba
Brazil rolled their record to 5-1 with 15 points to maintain third place in the FIVB World Cup ranking after defeating Argentina 3-0 on the first day of the third round in Hamamatsu. Brazil have victories in the tournament versus No. 2 Russia, No. 4 USA, No. 9 Argentina, No. 10 China and No. 12 Egypt. Cuba, who have won two matches in a row against Serbia and an upset of No. 3 Italy, are 4-2 in the World Cup with 12 points. The Cubans have also defeated Iran and Cuba with losses to Poland and Argentina.

“I expect more from my team — I expect more from them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende said.

Murilo Endres leads Brazil with 76 points, followed by Leandro Vissotto Neves’ 70 points. Murilo is sixth in Best Spiker with a 52.59 percent. Fernando Hernandez Ramos has totaled 113 points for Cuba for second-most points in the tournament. Sergio Dutra Santos is in front of the Best Receiver race with a 59.06 efficiency percent to help in be atop the Best Libero category with a 5.17 excellent average per set. Wilfredo Leon Venero has charted 92 points to make him and Hernandez the top scoring combined duo in the tournament. Further, Leon ranks second in Best Spiker (55.33 percent) and Hernandez ranks fourth (54.59 percent).

Brazil hold a slim 28-22 advantage in the all-time series with Cuba, including a hard-fought five-set victory over Cuba in which they battled back from a two-set deficit during the 2011 FIVB World League Final Round in Gdansk, Poland. While the series is somewhat balanced, Brazil has won eight of the last 10 meetings and 17 of the last 22 meetings.

Italy versus Serbia
Italy suffered a blow to their Olympic Games qualification through the FIVB World Cup after falling to Cuba to start the third round. Still, the Italians are 4-2 overall with 11 points for fifth place, just five points out of first place and four points from third place. After falling to Russia to start the tournament, Italy had strung together wins over Brazil, USA, Egypt and China. Serbia remain stuck at three points in the FIVB World Cup with a 1-5 record after beginning the third round with a straight set loss to Russia. Serbia’s lone victory came against Japan in five sets in the first match of the second round in Osaka.

Italy star Michal Lasko leads the tournament with 116 points, including three of the top five match scoring performances of the tournament. He has converted 51.98 percent of his spikes for seventh place, while averaging 0.83 blocks per set for second in Best Blocker. Cristian Savani has added 75 points, while Ivan Zaytsev has contributed 65 points. Serbian Ivan Miljkovic leads his team with 86 points, while Dragan Stankovic has added 56 points.

“[Looking forward] to tomorrow we don’t have to think about this match anymore,” Italy coach Mauro Berruto said of his team’s loss to Cuba. “We had one defeat against Russia, and now this one — so we hope the next four matches are four victories, and we will see what happens on the last day.”

“[November 27 versus Russia] was a rest day for older players, but tomorrow we will see (if they return to the lineup),” Serbia coach Igor Kolakovic.

Italy and Serbia have endured a balanced historical series with Serbia holding a 29-21 advantage in the 50 previous matches. Serbia defeated Italy in four sets in the 2011 European Championship title match in the most recent meeting. Serbia have won six of the last 10 meetings, including the last three matches. Four of the last 10 matches have also been decided in five sets and only two matches have been settled in three sets. Italy won consecutive matches over Serbia in the 2010 FIVB World League preliminary round.

Day 7 | November 28, 2011

FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup Highlights
Tournament Leading Scorers
1 Michal Lasko (ITA) 116 points
2 Fernando Hernandez Ramos (CUB) 113 points
3 Ahmed Abdelhay (EGY) 103
4 Clayton Stanley (USA) 102
5 Kunihiro Shimizu (JPN) 98

Top Scoring Performances
30 – Ahmed Abdelhay (EGY) v JPN on Nov. 27
27 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v BRA, Nov. 22
26 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v RUS, Nov. 20
26 – Bartosz Kurek (POL) v IRI, Nov. 24
25 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v USA, Nov. 25
25 – Clayton Stanley (USA) v IRI, Nov. 27

Top Scorers by Day
November 20: 26 – Michal Lasko (Italy) versus Russia
November 21: 21 – Zbigniew Bartman (Poland) versus Serbia; Tatsuya Fukuzaka (Japan) versus Argentina
November 22: 27 – Michal Lasko (Italy) versus Brazil
November 24: 26 – Bartosz Kurek (Poland) versus Iran
November 25: 25 – Michal Lasko (Italy) versus USA
November 27: 30 – Ahmed Abdelhay (Egypt) versus Japan

Top Blocking Performances
7 – Clayton Stanley (USA) v RUS on Nov. 27
7 – Alexander Volkov (RUS) v ITA on Nov. 20
7 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v BRA on Nov. 22
7 – Marcin Mozdzonek (POL) v JPN on Nov. 25
6 – Piotr Nowakowski (POL) v SRB on Nov. 21
6 – Alexander Butko (RUS) v USA on Nov. 22
6 – Sebastian Sole (ARG) v CUB on Nov. 24
6 – Yusuke Ishijima (JPN) v SRB on Nov. 24 

Top Service Ace Performances
6 – Bartosz Kurek (POL) v IRI on Nov. 24
5 – Clayton Stanley (USA) v IRI on Nov. 27
4 – Maxim Mikyahlov (RUS) v CHN on Nov. 21
4 – Ivan Zaytsev (ITA) v BRA on Nov. 22
4 – Clayton Stanley (USA) v EGY on Nov. 24
4 – Sergey Tetyuhkin (RUS) v BRA on Nov. 24
4 – Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi (IRI) v ARG on Nov. 25
4 – Luciano De Cecco (ARG) v IRI on Nov. 25

Highest Set Score:
41-39 – ITA v USA (Set 1) on Nov. 25 (FIVB Men’s World Cup record)
30-28 – POL v SRB (Set 4) on Nov. 21

Highest Scoring Matches
220 – Italy beat USA 3-1 (41-39, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21) on Nov. 25
217 – Italy beat Brazil 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 18-25, 25-21, 22-20) on Nov. 22
211 – Iran beat Poland 3-2 (23-25, 28-26, 8-25, 26-24, 15-11) on Nov. 24
204 – Iran beat Argentina 3-2 (15-12, 25-21, 24-26, 25-16, 15-12) on Nov. 25
203 – Iran beat Serbia 3-2 (25-17, 18-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-11) on Nov. 22
196 – Argentina beat Japan 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 11-25, 25-15, 15-12) on Nov. 21
193 – Brazil beat China 3-2 (23-25, 25-10, 25-18, 19-25, 15-8) on Nov. 25

For more information contact:
Site A (Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, Tokyo-Yoyogi Gymnasium) - Mr. Federico Ferraro
 +81 (0)80 2584 4622

Site B: (Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Toyama, Hamamatsu, Tokyo Metropolitan Stadium) - Mr. Bill Kauffman
 +81 (0)80 2584 4623

For all non urgent inquiries concerning the 2011 FIVB Men's World Cup please contact the FIVB Press Department at press@fivb.org.