China's young players have gained a lot of confidence at the tournament following four close matches and two wins at home against two strong teams, namely the USA and Netherlands.

After China's 3-0 win over the Dutch, Mr. Yuan Weimin (President of the China Volleyball Association, former President of the Chinese Olympic Committee and Honorary Life-President of the Asian Volleyball Confederation) praised the Chinese team and encouraged them to continue improving by taking advantage of every opportunity to play against strong teams.

Although China no longer has a chance to qualify for the Final Round with 9 points from a 3-7 record, a fantastic performance can still be expected this weekend considering their recent fettle and an away win in Italy.

Italy now ranks second, 4 points behind USA in Pool A after splitting its series against the States last weekend. With a chance to overtake Team USA, Italy will give everything they've got to qualify for the Final Six.

The first match starts at 19:15 (local time) on Friday.