Brazil beat Russia in straight sets when they last met in last year's World Grand Prix but Russia claimed the honours in the 2010 World Championships final

London, Great Britain, August 6, 2012 - World champions Russia against Beijing gold medallists Brazil headlines a brilliant quartet of London 2012 Olympic Games women’s volleyball quarterfinals which get underway on Tuesday at Earls Court.

In a repeat of the 2010 World Championships final, which Russia won 3-2, Brazil will be hoping to advance to the Olympic semifinals for the sixth successive edition while Russia, who topped Pool A, will be out to rectify their disappointing fifth place finish of four years ago.

World No. 1 USA topped Pool B and the three-time World Grand Prix champions will take on the Dominican Republic in a classic NORCECA encounter in the third quarterfinal. Starting proceedings will be a traditional Asia showdown between China and Japan.

Japan v China at 13:00 (local time)
World No. 3 China will enter the first quarterfinal as favourites considering their historic dominance over Japan. Both countries boast a three win/two loss record from their respective pools with China beating Serbia, Turkey and Korea while Japan beat Algeria, the Dominican Republic and Great Britain. Both countries have won an Olympic medal five times, including two golds however Japan’s last title was in 1976 compared to China’s in 2004. China has beaten Japan, ranked fifth in the world, 39 times out of 45 matches including the last 18 encounters dating back to a World Grand Prix match in 2001 when Japan won 3-0. China and Japan have met in the Olympic Games five times previously with China winning in straight sets every time, including a 2004 quarterfinal (their only quarterfinal encounter) and 2008 preliminary round match.

Russia v Brazil at 15:00
This clash of the world champions against the Olympic champions promises to be a thriller as long as Brazil can finally play to their potential. Riddled with injury and inconsistency Ze Roberto’s charges have failed to clasp the magic recipe which saw them win Olympic gold and two World Grand Prix titles and three World Grand Prix silvers in the past four years. The world No. 2 just snuck into the top four of Pool B having beaten Turkey, China and Serbia by 3-2, 3-2 and 3-0 respectively while Russia sailed through Pool A with five wins from five. The world No. 9, who will be hoping to avoid a repeat of 2008 when they exited at this stage of the tournament after losing in straight sets to China, leads the overall head-to-head record against Brazil 28-19 and also leads their previous Olympic Games encounters 3-2 however Brazil won in straight sets on their way to gold in Beijing as well as in the last encounter during the 2011 World Grand Prix semifinals.

USA v Dominican Republic at 19:00
A traditional NORCECA clash which USA leads 12-2 in overall match ups, including the last nine however in their only previous Olympic Games encounter the Dominican Republic caused an upset by beating USA 3-2 in Athens. The Beijing silver medallists are hot favourites to advance to the semifinals having scored a maximum 15 points from their five pool matches while the Dominican Republic, who have reached the quarterfinals after finishing 11th in their only other previous Olympic Games appearance in 2004, finished fourth in Pool A with wins over Great Britain and Algeria.

Italy v Korea at 21:00
Tuesday’s quarterfinal will be the first time these teams meet in an Olympic Games sudden death match. They have met only once before in a quarterfinal - at the 2002 World Championships - which Italy won in straight sets on their way to the title. The World Cup champions lead the overall head-to-head against Korea 11-8, including a winning streak going back eight games to the Sydney Olympics. In previous Olympic Games matches, they have won one each with Italy claiming the honours in straight sets in Athens after Korea had clinched a 3-2 win in Sydney.

Highest Scorers day-by-day
29 – Kim Yeon-Koung of Korea v United States (28-7-12)
34 – Kim Yeon-Koung of Korea v Serbia (30-7-12)
22 – Destinee Hooker of United States v China (1-8-12)
29 – Ekaterina Gamova of Russia v Japan (3-8-12)
33 – Nataliya Gonchareva of Russia v Italy (5-8-12)

Top-Scoring Performances
34 – Kim Yeon-Koung of Korea v Serbia (30-7-12)
33 – Nataliya Gonchareva of Russia v Italy (5-8-12)
32 – Kim Yeon-Koung of Korea v Serbia (5-8-12)
31 – Ekaterina Gamova of Russia v Italy (5-8-12)

Top-Blocking Performances
7 – Xu Yunli of China v Serbia (28-7-12)
6 – Simona Gioli of Italy v Dominican Republic (28-7-12)
6 – Foluke Akinradewo of United States v Korea (28-7-12)
6 – Ekaterina Gamova of Russia v Dominican Republic (30-7-12)
6 – Thaisa Menezes of Brazil v China (3-8-12)
6 – Destinee Hooker of United States v Serbia (3-8-12)

Top-Serving Performances
4 – Lynne Beattie of Great Britain v Algeria (30-7-12)
4 – Sheryne Hennaqui of Algeria v Great Britain (30-7-12)
4 – Safia Boukhima of Algeria v Great Britain (30-7-12)

Highest Set Scores:
31-29 – Turkey v China (Set 3) on 30-7-12
31-29 – United States v China (Set 3) on 1-8-12
30-28 – China v Brazil (Set 4) on 3-8-12

Highest Scoring Matches
217 – China d Korea 3-2 (28-26, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-10) on 5-8-12
214 – Brazil d Turkey 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-27, 15-12) on 28-7-12
212 – Brazil d China 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 25-18, 28-30, 15-10) on 3-8-12
212 – Russia d. Italy 3-2 (26-28, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 15-11) on 5-8-12
206 – Great Britain d Algeria 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 15-8) on 30-7-12
201 – Turkey d Korea 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-12) on 3-8-12

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