Brazil's Superstars Shine in World Grand Prix

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE / #07 / 2014

STILL ON TOP: BRAZIL’S SUPERSTARS SHINE IN WORLD GRAND PRIX THINK

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EN_SMDIESEL_BRAND PRACTICALITY_297x210_FIVB_HONDA.indd 1 24/06/2013 15:06 EDITORIAL 1

Cover photo Once again the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix proved coaching staff require and ensuring that there are full Still on top – Brazil’s superstars to be another exciting and absorbing competition houses of happy well cared for fans to cheer them on. shine in World Grand Prix that produced some fantastic volleyball and great entertainment for the crowds that packed the arenas Of course, in six years’ time Tokyo will host the 2020 Publication Management and Editorial Committee throughout the preliminary and final rounds. Olympic Games, but there is plenty of volleyball to Fédération Internationale be played before we can even think about that, most de Volleyball Brazil were worthy champions completing a remarkable importantly the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Château Les Tourelles achievement of winning 10 crowns. Great praise must Championship Italy 2014. Edouard-Sandoz 2-4, also go to all the record-breaking 28 teams that took 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland part. This is the pinnacle of the women’s volleyball calendar Tel. 0041-21-3453535 Fax 0041-21-3453545 and many teams would have used the World Grand Prix www.fivb.org Their endeavours and commitment to their countries as preparation. It has served as the perfect appetizer for Press Department Director meant that the level of volleyball that we saw displayed what is certain to be one of the most closely contested Richard Baker on the courts around the world was as high as one can tournaments in recent years. remember. Editorial Jeremy Inson It is great to see the technical levels continually rise as Design and Layout this will help spread our great sport around the globe amethys.ch even further, as the skills on display and the heart and passion with which the athletes play will only attract Translation more people to the sport of volleyball. Libero Language Lab www.liberos.com I must also congratulate the Japanese Volleyball Reproduction Association and the city of Tokyo for being such Reproduction of any article organised, efficient, kind, considerate and welcoming or part of the magazine hosts. is authorised, providing that the source is explicitly cited Japan have consistently been superb organisers of

Contributions events, guaranteeing everything that the players and FIVB President: Dr. Ary S. Graça F° Typed articles are accepted in the following languages: French, English CONTENT / VOLLEYWORLD / #07 / 2014 Email: [email protected]

Photographs 2 4 10 FIVB Archives BIG PICTURE COVER STORY CALENDAR

VolleyWorld is available Perfect 10 – Brazil hit double to download in English, French, figures with victory in Japan Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian and Chinese at www.fivb.org

The views expressed in 12 14 VolleyWorld are not necessarily SOCIAL MEDIA CONFEDERATIONS those of the FIVB or its Officials. 18 AVC 19 CEV 20 NORCECA The content of this publication 19 CAVB 20 CSV is based on the best information available at the time the articles were written. 2 BIG PICTURE

The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was once again a huge success producing top class action across the globe. Brazil may have enjoyed the ultimate prize, but there were fascinating stories across the tournament; Japan showed their return to form with a silver medal, but there were also impressive performances from the likes of Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan. Overall there was a month of stunning volleyball that culminated with six teams fighting for the ultimate glory and producing great entertainment in Tokyo. 3 4 COVER STORY

– Perfect 10 - Brazil hit double figures with victory in Japan

Olympic champions Brazil added another trophy to their collection as they continued their winning ways with victory in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. It was a record-breaking win for the South Americans and VolleyWorld looks back over their 10th victory in the tournament, another night of glory for their coach Jose ‘Ze Roberto’ Guimares. 5 6 COVER STORY

In the end it was a showdown between the favourites and the hosts – Brazil against Japan – and while both teams ended with a record of four wins and one loss, the key defeat for Japan came in the final “If we analyse the whole match which guaranteed Brazil the title. Grand Prix it is clear that our FIVB world champions Russia won their 12th World Grand Prix medal team played well. Japan were when they beat China 3-2 to secure bronze. enjoying good performances “From the start of the Finals, when we lost to Turkey, it has been and had won all their matches difficult,” Ze Roberto said. “After that loss, we recovered little by little and were finally able to win our 10th World Grand Prix. I want on the way to the final to thank my team and my staff; we won under a lot of pressure.” match.”

That 3-2 loss to Turkey put Brazil on the back foot from the start. But the sign of true champions is how they recover, and they bounced Fabiana Claudino back quickly to beat China, Belgium, Russia and with the title on the line, Japan.

The hosts had looked in good form and delighted their home fans as they lost only one set in four victories over Russia, China, Turkey and Belgium. However, they were unable to handle a Brazil team that was in rampant form and didn’t let up in a straight sets win in front of 8,000 fans at the Ariake Collesium.

Three Brazilians made it into the competition’s Dream Team; middle blocker Fabiana Claudino, setter Danielle Lins, and opposite spiker caption Sheilla Castro. caption 7 8 COVER STORY

“We played tactically and kept our focus throughout the match. Our Tatiana Kosheleva, who was leading scorer with 109 points, along squad deserved to win this title.” with Turkey’s Neriman Ozsoy.

Japan may have been unable to give their home fans the result and The world champions lost their key match against Brazil, but recovered medal that they wanted, but their silver medal finish shows that well to fight back from losing the first two sets against China to win 3-2 Masayoshi Manabe’s team are continuing their progress to the top and claim the bronze. of the volleyball world. Russian captain Ekaterina Kosianenko was left to lament what might have Along with their bronze medals from the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Grand been, “We need to work a lot on all the parts of our game to improve.” Champions Cup and the London 2012 Olympic Games, Japan are showing that they have the ability to consistently challenge for a Ze Roberto may have been singled out for praise and received a special place on the medal podium. award from FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° for his achievements with Brazil and Turkish giants Fenerbahce. However, he showed why he has “We faced Brazil, the number one team in the world and they made achieved so much by immediately switching his focus to the upcoming me realise that there are many things we need to improve if we want FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014 and securing to catch up with them,” said captain Saori Kimura. “It’s good that we Brazil’s first world title. got the silver medal, but our goal was gold.” He said, “After a dream year in 2013 and a 10th victory in the World Russia’s bronze was their first World Grand Prix medal since they won Grand Prix, it goes without saying that we will be striving to finally get silver in 2009. Their success was built upon the scoring of opposite our hands on this title.” 9

FINAL STANDINGS

OVERALL AWARDS

1 Brazil 1 Brazil

2 Japan 2 Japan MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

GROUP 1 3 Russia 3 Russia Yuko Sano (Japan)

4 Turkey 4 Turkey

5 China 5 China BEST SETTER

6 Belgium 6 USA Danielle Lins (Brazil)

7 Serbia

1 Belgium 8 South Korea BEST OUTSIDE SPIKERS

2 The Netherlands 9 Italy Liu Xiaotong (China)

GROUP 2 3 Puerto Rico 10 Germany Miyu Nagaoka (Japan)

4 Poland 11 Thailand

5 Argentina 12 Dominican Republic BEST MIDDLE BLOCKERS

6 Peru 13 Belgium Irina Fetisova (Russia)

7 Canada 14 The Netherlands Fabiana Claudino (Brazil)

8 Cuba 15 Puerto Rico

16 Poland BEST OPPOSITE SPIKER

1 Bulgaria 17 Argentina Sheilla Castro (Brazil)

2 Czech Republic 18 Peru

GROUP 3 3 Croatia 19 Canada BEST LIBERO

4 Kazakhstan 20 Cuba Yuko Sano (Japan)

5 Kenya 21 Bulgaria

6 Mexico 22 Czech Republic

7 Australia 23 Croatia

8 Algeria 24 Kazakhstan

25 Kenya

26 Mexico

27 Australia

28 Algeria SERVING UP

WORLD TOUR GRAND SLAM

STAVANGER THE WORLD’S NORWAY 24-29 JUNE

BEST VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR GRAND SLAM

THE HAGUE THE NETHERLANDS 15-20 JULY

WORLD TOUR WOMEN’S CLUB WORLD TOUR GRAND SLAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND SLAM

LONG BEACH ZURICH GSTAAD, USA SWITZERLAND SWITZERLAND 22-27 JULY 07-11 MAY 8-13 JULY

WORLD TOUR WORLD TOUR U17 WORLD GRAND SLAM OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS KLAGENFURT PUERTO VALLARTA ACAPULCO AUSTRIA MEXICO MEXICO 29 JULY - 3 AUGUST 06 - 11 MAY 15-20 JULY

U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN’S CLUB WORLD TOUR WORLD PORTO GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP PORTUGAL 29 JUL. - 3 AUG. SAO PAULO BELO HORIZONTE BRAZIL BRAZIL 23 - 28 SEPTEMBER 5-10 MAY

WORLD TOUR OPEN

PARANA ARGENTINA 28 OCT. - 2 NOV.

VOLLEYBALL

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

CLICK ON EACH COMPETITION FOR MORE INFORMATION WORLD GRAND PRIX WORLD TOUR U23 WORLD MEN’S WORLD FINAL ROUND GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONSHIPS CHAMPIONSHIP (2ND GROUP)

STARE JABLONKI MYSLOWICE KOZALIN POLAND POLAND POLAND POLAND 19 - 24 AUGUST 10-15 JUNE 30 AUG. - 21 SEPT. AUGUST 15-16

WORLD TOUR WORLD TOUR WORLD TOUR WORLD TOUR OPEN GRAND SLAM OPEN GRAND SLAM (WOMEN)

BERLIN PRAGUE MOSCOW ANAPA GERMANY CZECH REPUBLIC RUSSIA RUSSIA 17-22 JUNE 21 - 25 MAY 11-15 JUNE 27 MAY - 1 JUNE

WORLD TOUR WORLD TOUR GRAND SLAM OPEN

SHANGHAI XIAMEN CHINA CHINA 29 APR. - 4 MAY 7-12 OCTOBER

WORLD GRAND PRIX WORLD TOUR YOUTH OLYMPIC FINAL ROUND OPEN GAMES (3RD GROUP)

SAMOKOV FUZHOU NANJING BULGARIA CHINA CHINA 16-17 AUGUST 22 - 27 APRIL 17-27 AUGUST

WORLD LEAGUE WORLD GRAND PRIX FINAL ROUND FINAL ROUND (3RD GROUP) (1ST GROUP)

BURSA TOKYO TURKEY JAPAN 28-29 JUNE 20-24 AUGUST

WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

ITALY

23 SEPT. - 12 OCT.

WORLD LEAGUE FINAL ROUND (1ST GROUP) U21 WORLD WORLD TOUR WORLD TOUR FLORENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN OPENS ITALY (MEN) 16-20 JULY LARNACA DOHA CHENNAI CYPRUS QATAR INDIA 23-27 JULY 4-8 NOVEMBRE 25-30 NOVEMBER

WORLD LEAGUE WORLD TOUR FINAL ROUND OPEN (2ND GROUP) MANGAUNG SYDNEY SOUTH AFRICA AUSTRALIA 9-14 DECEMBER 11-12 JULY 12 SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media allowed thousands of volleyball fans around the world to discuss the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. Interest in the tournament peaked at the Finals in Tokyo with the conversation in full flow across all of the FIVB’s social media channels. Why not join the FIVB’s online community today and connect with the following social media accounts:

2014 #FIVBGrandPrix All Star Team. Read the article here: http://wp.me/ p4XhPw-e Japanese fans cheer on their team

Few things are stronger than the bond of a #team. Tag your teammates and watch the #FIVBGrandPrix Finals live this week! Visit FIVB.org. #teamwork #champions #love #friends #family #life #volleyball #athlete

Leaving Tokyo with an unforgettable experience in our luggage! Thanks for all the support!!! #YellowTigers #FIVBGrandPrix #finals

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a bow all 2014 #FIVBGrandPrix medallists!! (pic @russiavolley) Thank you @FIVBGrandPrix !!!

14 CONFEDERATIONS

CONFEDERATIONS

AVC China aiming to build on experience for future editions

China may have been unable to finish with a place on the World Grand Prix medal podium, but coach ‘Jenny’ Lang Ping is confident that the experience of the tournament will stand an evolving team in good stead for the future.

Her side finished fifth in the finals, but after beginning with a win over Belgium they slipped to losses to Brazil, Japan, Turkey and finally Russia, who won the bronze medal with a 3-2 victory.

China captain Zeng Chunlei summed up the disappointment when she said, “Today’s match was very close and it was a good experience for us, but unfortunately we weren’t able to make the crucial points.”