Press release

Osaka, Japan, November 24, 2011 – Following an exciting opening round of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup Japan 2011 in Nagoya and Kagoshima, competition shifts to second round locations in Osaka (Site A) and Kumamoto (Site B) on November 24-25. The FIVB World Cup, the first 2012 Olympic Games qualification tournament with the top three teams earning tickets to London, is a round-robin tournament with 11 matches over the course of 15 days over the course of four rounds.

Osaka brings intriguing matches on the fourth day of competition on Thursday. Argentina faces Cuba at 11.00, while Poland challenges Iran at 15.00 and Japan hosts Serbia at 18.20. At Kumamoto, United States opens the second round against Egypt at 11.00, followed by a pivotal match between Brazil and Russia at 15.00 and Italy taking the court against China at 18.20.

The fourth day of competition has the world’s No. 1 Brazil taking on No. 2 Russia in what could be pivotal in the final rankings and who gets an Olympic Games berth. Russia are one of two undefeated teams with nine points, along with Poland. The Russians have scored victories over No. 3 Italy (3-1), China (3-0) and No. 4 USA (3-0).

Brazil, in third place in the FIVB World Cup standings, hold seven points with a 2-1 record after posting wins over Egypt (3-0) and USA (3-1) before falling to Italy in a thrilling five-set match (22-20 in the fifth set) on the final day in Kagoshima.

Russia’s Maxim Mikhaylov ranks third in Best Scorer with 54 points. Leandro Vissotto leads Brazil in scoring through the first three matches with 44 points.

“We need to prepare very well as Brazil is the top-ranked team in the world,” Russia captain Taras Khtey said. “They have many great players like Giba, Dante and Sérgio.”

“We’re now thinking about seeing Russia on one day of rest; another final,” Brazil captain Gilberto Godoy Filho (Giba) said.

The series has been evenly matched since Russia started to play under their current flag. Brazil hold a slim 29-25 edge in the series, but Russia have claimed the last two victories including a five-set win in the 2011 FIVB World League gold-medal match. At the last FIVB World Cup edition in 2007, Brazil captured a three-set victory in Tokyo.

Second Round Pool A at Osaka

Argentina versus Cuba
Argentina and Cuba enter their contest with 2-1 records following the first round, although Cuba holds a 6-5 edge in points in the standings. Cuba have bounced back from an opening day three-set loss to Poland to top Iran and host Japan in straight sets. Argentina started the FIVB World Cup with wins over Serbia (3-0) and Japan (3-2) before falling to undefeated Poland (3-1) to fall to 2-1 overall with five points.

Fernando Hernandez Ramos, who has tallied 60 points in the tournament to lead Cuba, ranks second in the tournament in scoring. Facundo Conte leads Argentina with 52 points from the first round, which ranks fourth overall.

Cuba has dominated the 21-match series with Argentina, having won 19 of the contests. The two teams last met during the 2010 FIVB World League in which Cuba won all four matches to extend their win streak to five matches in the series. Argentina last pulled in a win over Cuba during the 1999 FIVB World League, but did not play again for 10 years until the 2009 FIVB World League Final Round.

Poland versus Iran
Poland have earned all nine possible points with wins over Cuba (3-0), Serbia (3-1) and Argentina (3-1). Zbigniew Bartman has contributed 50 points in Poland’s three victories, which ranks tied for fifth in scoring.  Iran improved to 2-1 with five points after coming away with a hard-fought five-set win over Serbia to end the first round in Nagoya. Iran opened the tournament with a win over Japan before falling to Cuba on day two. Seyed Mehdi Bazagarde leads Iran with 40 points, which is tied for 11th in the tournament.

“We are pleased to be leaving Nagoya with three victories,” said Bartman, Poland’s captain.

Poland and Iran have only played twice before resulting in Poland victories. The European squad won a three-set match at during the 2009 FIVB Grand Champions Cup in Nagoya, Japan. The only other meeting took place during the 1998 FIVB World Championship.

Serbia versus Japan
Host Japan and Serbia are both still in search of their first victory in the current FIVB World Cup edition, but that will change when they meet on day four in Osaka. Japan have lost to Iran (3-1), Argentina (3-2) and Cuba (3-0). Serbia have suffered defeats to Argentina (3-0), Poland (3-1) and Iran (3-2). Now Serbia are faced with near must-win situations the rest of the tournament to reach their goal.

“We played bad,” Serbia’s Uros Kovacevic said after his team’s loss to Iran. “We came here to make our way to London. Now it will be difficult. We have to win every game.”

Serbia is led on the court by Ivan Miljkovic’s 48 points for seventh-best in the tournament. Kunihiro Shimizu has scored 50 points, good for a fifth-place tie in Best Scorer, to lead Japan.

Serbia has won 15 of the 18 meetings with FIVB World Cup host Japan. The teams have not met since the 2006 FIB World Championship, a 3-0 win for Serbia.

Second Round Pool B at Kumamoto

Egypt versus USA
The USA opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over China, but have fallen to No. 1 Brazil (3-1) and No. 2 Russia (3-0) on back-to-back days. Egypt earned their first three points of the FIVB World Cup with a victory over China after falling to No. 1 Brazil and No. 3 Italy to start the tournament.

“This victory is a gift to the Egyptian people facing political problems now, it’s not stable,” Egypt coach Sherif El-Shemerly said after his team defeated China. “I hope they understand that we are thinking about them. I expect that in the next match we will be even better.

Clayton Stanley has ignited the USA offense with 41 points, including seven aces and seven blocks. Ahmed Abdelhay leads Egypt’s scoring with 46 points.

USA have never lost to Egypt in the previous 13 meetings. However, Egypt pushed the last two meetings held in the 2010 FIVB World League to five sets before falling.

Italy versus China
After losing their first match of the tournament to Russia in four sets, Italy has come back to defeat China (3-0) and Brazil (3-2) for five points going into the second round. Italy’s Michal Lasko has scored 63 points in the tournament to lead all players. China lost all three of their matches in the first round in Kagoshima, and the first match of the second round does not get any easier against No. 3 Italy. China are led by Ping Chen and his 27 points in the first three matches.

“Our focus is on the ultimate goal and that is the Olympic qualification,” Italy coach Mauro Berruto said about entering the second round on a high note with a win over Brazil. “This was a great match and the team showed great heart on the court. Tonight, we will focus our attention on to the next match, which is China.

“We are getting better day-by-day, but still are not at our best,” China’s Chen Ping said.

Italy have played China 46 times and have won 41 of the meetings, including the last six meetings. China last defeated Italy during the 2009 FIVB World League in Italy.

FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup Highlights
Tournament Leading Scorers
1 Michal Lasko (ITA) 63 points
2 Fernando Hernandez Ramos (CUB) 60 points
3 Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS) 54 points
4 Facundo Conte (ARG) 52
5 Zbigniew Bartman (POL) 50 points
5 Kunihiro Shimizu (JPN) 50

Top Scoring Performances
27 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v BRA, Nov. 22
26 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v RUS, Nov. 20
22 – Ivan Miljkovic (SRB) v IRI on Nov. 22
21 – Fernando Hernandez Ramos (CUB) v POL on Nov. 20
21 – Zbigniew Bartman (POL) v SRB on Nov. 21
21 – Tatsuya Fukuzaka (JPN) v ARG on Nov. 21

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

Top Blocking Performances
7 – Alexander Volkov (RUS) v ITA on Nov. 20
7 – Michal Lasko (ITA) v BRA on Nov. 22
6 – Piotr Nowakowski (POL) v SRB on Nov. 21
6 – Alexander Butko (RUS) v USA on Nov. 22 

Top Service Ace Performances
4 – Maxim Mikyahlov (RUS) v CHN on Nov. 21
4 – Ivan Zaytsev (ITA) v BRA on Nov. 22

Highest Set Score: 30-28 – POL v SRB (Set 4) on Nov. 21

Highest Scoring Matches
217 – Italy beat Brazil 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 18-25, 25-21, 22-20) on Nov. 22
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
191 – Poland beat Serbia 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 30-28) on Nov. 21
187 – Russia beat Italy 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 on Nov. 20

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.