Press release

 Ankara, Turkey, August 20, 2011- The top four teams at the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship are going to battle on Saturday for the final spot of the most prestigious competition in the elite at this age category in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

 As the final round kicks off, hosts Turkey, China, Serbia and Poland will be on the spotlight to compete for the 2 spots of the final. Turkey take on Serbia in the first semifinal at 16:30 local time in Baskent Hall in Ankra, Turkey. Chine will line up against Poland in the second semifinal match at 19:00.

 In another great step of the media coverage on www.fivb.org the semifinal and final matches will be streamed live on the FIVB TV, through this link 

http://www.laola1.tv/en/int/fivb/video/203---.html

 The other play off matches for the rest of the 16 positions will be staged also at both Baskent and Ankara Arena Halls. Germany play Japan and Brazil meet Argentina in the play off for the 5 to 8 positions.

 USA battle with Mexico and Italy field against Slovakia for 9 to 12 places and finally Thailand combat Algeria and Puerto Rico meet Egypt for the last 4 positions.

 Three out of the top 4 teams are Europeans with one Asian team in an unusual absence of the South American powerhouses and mainly Brazil who will seek now the fifth position as the best possibility, same like their Men’s junior counterparts did in the World championship just ended in their homelands early this month.  

 China is the only unbeatable team in the competition and they conceded two sets throughout the first and second rounds. Serbia has a run of 5 consecutive victories after their lone loss against China in the opening day.

 Turkey and Serbia both had one lost match in 6 encounters, while Poland comes as the least in terms of the statistics among the semifinalists having the worst win- loss record of 3-3 in the competition till now.

 Turkey and Serbia face off will be the fourth between the big forces this year as they met twice in the European championship as well as a third time in the European Youth Olympic festival “EYOF”. Turkey won twice in the European championship and Serbia revenged once at the EYOF.

 With Baskent hall in Ankara expected to show full house in their match against Serbia, the latter coach Milan Grsic puts a lot of interest on how to face the emotional Turkish spectators. “Turkey play with all the fans supporting with a lot of excitement. And we need to deal with that pressure,” he said in the last training session ahead of the semis.

Turkey coach Sahin Catma is thinking to entertain his supporters with a win against Serbia with his eyes to revenge against China in the final. “We will play against Serbia in the semifinal, but this is not a new situation for us, we have already played against them in the European Championship in April, two times we won, and one lost. That means we know them very well. I’m sure we are going to beat them, because we play better. I hope to play again against China in the final.” He said.

 After the elimination of the defending champions Brazil, the big contenders China are looking to increase their shared record of three crowns with the South American powerhouses.

 Both Brazil and China are the record holders of the tournament with three crowns to their names. Brazil captured gold in 1997, 2005 and 2009, while China were crowned in 2001, 2003 and 2007. Japan and Russia both won the gold in two events as Japan topped the podium in 1995 and 1997 and Russia in 1989 and 1993 with the former one under the Soviet Union flag. Korea was the champions in 1991.

Semifinal schedule on Saturday, August 20

Positions 1-4
Serbia (9) v Turkey (5) at 16.30
China (13) v Poland (29) at 19.00

Positions 5-8
Germany (7) v Japan (4) at 11.30
Brazil (1) v Argentina (19) at 14.00

Positions 9-12
USA (2) v Mexico (10) at 16.30
Italy (12) v Slovakia (28) at 19.00

Positions 13-16
Thailand (14) v Algeria (17) at 11.30
Puerto Rico (21) v Egypt (10) at 14.00