Comp. Formula

COMPETITION FORMULA

The competition of the 2004 WGP lasts 4 weeks with a total of 65 matches
During the First, second and third week: 18 matches per team will be played with a total of 54 matches.

Preliminary rounds will be organized in: Japan, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany, Korea and China.
The final round will be staged in Italy.

Classification in the preliminary rounds is decided by the number of points gained by teams participating in the same group.
The classification in the general ranking of the preliminary rounds of the 2004 WGP is decided by the total number of World Grand Prix Points (GPP) gained by the teams in the preliminary matches.

The following points will be gained by each team:

Match won: 2 World Grand Prix Points
Match lost: 1 World Grand Prix Point
Match forfeited: 0 World Grand Prix Points

Preliminary Round

Within each group the Round-Robin system will be applied, the order of the Pool composition is determined by the FIVB.

Final Round

For the final round, the host team plus the top five ranked teams after the preliminary rounds will qualify.

The final round will be played over five days and 11 matches will be played in total.
Teams will be ranked after the first three rounds determine the exact match schedule for the final round as follows:

Two pools of three teams each, will be composed following the serpentine
system.
Pool A: Italy Host Organiser Pool B: 1st ranked team after Preliminary
Pool A: 3rd ranked team after Preliminary Pool B: 2nd ranked team after Preliminary
Pool A: 4th ranked team after Preliminary Pool B: 5th ranked team after Preliminary

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

Asia and host organisers: Japan, China, Korea and Thailand                                                                                         ---Europe:                          Russia, Germany, Poland (via Qualification Tournament in 2003)
                                     and Italy as final round organiser How they qualified
Norceca/South America:   USA, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Brazil (via Qualification Tournament in 2003)                             How they qualified

Groups are decided as per world ranking and previous World Grand Prix results!

The best five teams plus Italy will qualify for the Final Round.

The Final Round includes two pools of three teams, who play each other totalling 11 games including the final.