MEDIA GUIDE 2009 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup Cup Champions Grand World FIVB 2009 MEDIA GUIDE
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MEDIA GUIDE 2009 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup Cup Champions Grand World FIVB 2009 MEDIA GUIDE THE MIKASA MVA200 Officially certified FIVB Competition Ball Women: 10 - 15 November (Tokyo & Fukuoka, Japan) www.fi vb.org Men: 18 - 23 November (Osaka & Nagoya, Japan) Table of Contents JVA President’s Message ............................................2 FIVB President’s Message ...........................................3 World Grand Champions Cup Records/History ........4 Competition Format .......................................................8 Media Info .................................................................... 10 Venue Information ...................................................... 12 Women’s Participating Teams .................................. 15 Women’s Road to Tokyo ..................................... 16 Women’s Competition Schedule ...................... 20 Brazil ..................................................................... 22 Dominican Republic ........................................... 26 Italy ........................................................................ 30 Japan .................................................................... 34 Korea ......................................................................38 Thailand ................................................................ 42 Star Players ......................................................... 46 Men’s Participating Teams ........................................ 51 Men’s Road to Tokyo .......................................... 52 Men’s Competition Schedule ............................ 56 Brazil ..................................................................... 58 Cuba ...................................................................... 62 Egypt...................................................................... 66 Iran ........................................................................ 70 Japan .................................................................... 74 Poland ................................................................... 78 Star Players ......................................................... 82 Volleyball History, Facts & Dates ............................. 85 FIVB History ................................................................. 88 FIVB Properties ........................................................... 90 Rules of the Game ....................................................... 92 Referee’s Signals ........................................................ 94 FIVB Officials ............................................................... 96 Credits Editorial : Richard Baker – FIVB Deputy Communications Director Project Manager : Gabrielle van Zwieten – FIVB Vice-Director Volleyball Events Text : Andrew Mitchell – FIVB Editorial Assistant Data : Alberto Rigamonti – FIVB IT Department Design and Layout : Samuel Chesaux Printed by Wakao Printing Co. Ltd., Japan Kaori Inoue (JPN) Photos : © FIVB 1 JVA President’s Message FIVB President’s Message www.fivb.org It is our great pleasure to have another opportunity to host the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup for men and women. The FIVB World Grand Champions Cup was founded in 1993 and this year’s competition will be the fifth edition. We are very proud to have hosted the event since its beginning. This year’s competition will take place in Tokyo and Fukuoka for the women and in Osaka and Nagoya for the men. Competing in the round-robin tournament will be six men’s teams and six women’s teams – four continental champions (per gender), a wildcard selection and the host country, Japan. The competition will help determine the World Grand Champion for 2009. More than one year has passed since the Beijing Olympics. The FIVB World Grand Champions Cup 2009 is certainly the biggest competition since the Olympics and the participating teams will challenge with new-look squads. Japan’s men’s and women’s teams will compete with The FIVB World Grand Champions Cup is considered While the Grand Champions Cup is truly an their brand-new nicknames “RYUJIN NIPPON” and “HINOTORI NIPPON” one of the most prestigious Volleyball tournaments in international event of the highest calibre, there is one respectively. “RYUJIN” means “God of Dragon” and “HINOTORI” means the world, and it is hard not to see why. country who might rightfully consider the competition “Phoenix” in Japanese. These nicknames were chosen by fans to support partly its own: Japan. the teams. The world’s best men’s and women’s national teams are here in Japan fighting for the title and for $2m in Hosts of the event from day one, the Japanese have We hope that all the players will play to their full abilities throughout the prize money at outstanding facilities in front of the most unfailingly produced world-class tournaments every competition and give hope, dreams and excitement to Volleyball fans all passionate and supportive Volleyball fans in the world. quadrennial and really taken the FIVB World Grand over the world. Furthermore, we hope that the participants will gain lots of Champions Cup into their hearts. experience and cultivate deep friendships through competing with each other. Held between the Olympic Games and World Championships, the FIVB World Grand Champions And so it is from the bottom of my heart that I thank It is said that November is the most brilliant time in Japan, in part due to Cup has been a highly successful and highly the local organizers of this important event for their the leaves turning colour. This autumn, the marvellous FIVB World Grand anticipated addition to the international calendar continued support and success, Nippon Television Champions Cup 2009 will make Japan much more colourful and gorgeous. since its inception in 1993. Network Corporation for their terrific coverage of the matches, and, most importantly, the fans, without Finally, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to the FIVB members and That no team has ever defended the cup is a whom none of this would be possible. special thanks to Mr. Jizhong Wei, the FIVB President, for their great effort testament to how challenging a competition it is. and cooperation, and I would also like to extend my gratitude to NTV, the Mr. Jizhong Wei Yomiuri Group, sponsors, local organizers and everyone else concerned for And this year’s tournament promises to be no less FIVB President their massive contribution. dramatic or entertaining, with a few surprise packages (newcomers such as the Thai women and Polish men, Mr. Masao Tachiki for example) prepared to do battle against the more President of the Japan Volleyball Association regular faces at the showcase competition. 2 3 World Grand Champions Cup World Grand Champions Cup www.fivb.org Records/History Records/History The FIVB World Grand Champions Cup is played every quadrennial in the year immediately following the summer Olympic Games. The competition began in 1993 and has been held in Japan each time with great success. This year marks the event’s fifth anniversary, with the Brazilian men’s and women’s teams both returning to defend the titles they won in 2005. The tournament is one of the FIVB’s most prestigious international competitions, and features six teams in both the men’s and women’s brackets. The six teams are comprised of four continental champions, an FIVB wild card, and hosts Japan. The four continental champions are from Continental Federations whose team(s) ranked the highest at the preceding Olympics. The FIVB, NTV and JVA jointly selected the wild-card teams. Cuba’s Michael Sanchez Bozlueva in full flow Women’s World Grand Champions Cup History Men’s World Grand Champions Cup History Nb. of 1993 1997 2001 2005 Nb. of 1993 1997 2001 2005 Countries Countries part. Rank. Rank. Rank. Rank. part. Rank. Rank. Rank. Rank. Brazil 3 – 3 4 1 Argentina 1 – – 6 – China 4 2 4 1 3 Australia 1 – 6 – – Cuba 2 1 2 – – Brazil 4 2 1 2 1 Japan 4 4 5 3 5 China 2 – 4 – 6 Korea 3 – 6 6 6 Cuba 3 3 3 1 – Peru 1 6 – – – Egypt 1 – – – 5 Poland 1 – – – 4 Italy 2 1 – – 3 Russia 3 3 1 2 2 Japan 4 4 5 5 4 USA 3 5 – 5 2 Korea 2 6 – 4 – The Netherlands 1 – 2 – – USA 2 5 – – 2 Yugoslavia 1 – – 3 – Malika Kanthong is a prolific scorer for Thailand 4 5 World Grand Champions Cup World Grand Champions Cup www.fivb.org Records/History Records/History Former FIVB President Dr. Ruben Acosta (left) and Mr. Shintaro Kubo, former NTV President, Defending women’s World Grand Champions Brazil present the World Grand Champions Trophy to Giba as Brazil claimed the 2005 men’s title as well Women’s World Grand Champions Cup Honours Men’s World Grand Champions Cup Honours Year Host Champions Runners-up 3rd place 4th place 5th place 6th place Year Host Champions Runners-up 3rd place 4th place 5th place 6th place 2005 Japan Brazil USA China Poland Japan Korea 2005 Japan Brazil USA Italy Japan Egypt China 2001 Japan China Russia Japan Brazil USA Korea 2001 Japan Cuba Brazil Yugoslavia Korea Japan Argentina 1997 Japan Russia Cuba Brazil China Japan Korea 1997 Japan Brazil Netherlands Cuba China Japan Australia 1993 Japan Cuba China Russia Japan USA Peru 1993 Japan Italy Brazil Cuba Japan USA Korea 6 7 Competition Format www.fivb.org The competition system for the World Grand In the event that two teams finish level with the Champions Cup for Men & Women is the single same number of points, the tie will be broken