National Teams - 2007 Season

  • Quote

    but currently, i dare say russia is still the best team, why?
    i always believe from 98 - 2004, the x factor that cost the golds for russia is the setter---just look at how high the balls were set even in 2000OG, russia should have won; 2004, should have if artamonva is not injured


    How can you say Russia should have won? China was clearly the best team in Athens only losing one match (in five sets to a strong Cuba team). China destroyed Russia in prelim and really should have swept them in the finals but a missed call in the first set gave Russia some momentum. I don't know how the refs missed the libero Tyurina going up to block. The final actually could have gone either way, but I think Russia relied too much on Gamova and Sokolova. Plotnikova was a very good player but hardly got set. I think China's defense and variety won them the tournament. Just my opinion. BTW, Artamonova was power hitter right? That means one of Gamova or Sokolova would have been benched...hmm...tough decision for Karpol.

  • Quote from "chalsr"

    How can you say Russia should have won? China was clearly the best team in Athens only losing one match (in five sets to a strong Cuba team). China destroyed Russia in prelim and really should have swept them in the finals but a missed call in the first set gave Russia some momentum. I don't know how the refs missed the libero Tyurina going up to block. The final actually could have gone either way, but I think Russia relied too much on Gamova and Sokolova. Plotnikova was a very good player but hardly got set. I think China's defense and variety won them the tournament. Just my opinion. BTW, Artamonova was power hitter right? That means one of Gamova or Sokolova would have been benched...hmm...tough decision for Karpol.



    Hi chalsr. :wink2: I respect your opinion, but why do you think we couldn't win that final? We were leading 2:1 and 23:21 in the 4th set...
    I agree that China showed perfect game in Athens: ideal reception, brilliant defence and so on... they were soo strong and difficult to beat but still Cuba beat them and lost in semi only by 2:3, and our team could have won as well.
    "Relied too much on Gamova and Sokolova" - of course 19 year old Sheshenina setted to them because it was final and leaders should bring points for sure. And everyone on Marina's place would do so, because it's oue style of play. If you saw the game Tibenikhina attaked many times and was successful. I agree that Sheshenina should have set to Plotnikova but OG almost were her debut on international arena.So, what is done, is done.
    " I don't know how the refs missed the libero Tyurina going up to block."
    I don't remeber that moment at all... strange... BTW was it in crucial moment?
    "That means one of Gamova or Sokolova would have been benched...hmm...tough decision for Karpol."
    Nope, it would have been ideal. Sokolova would have replaced Plotnikova on opposite position. So we would have 3 monster attackers;plus Liouba and Zhenya along with Tiourina on reception and Liouba's slides and attacks from center and pipes would refresh our game and made it more combinational. It's like on last WCH but Artamonova on Godina's place.
    So.. I think that combination of players would have bring far more bigger troubles for China and other teams, don't you think so?


    The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself. (Oscar Wilde).

  • Hi Nick,


    First of all, thank you for your polite response. I am a huge tennis fan and those forums can get downright nasty if you say something some one doesn't like. Anyway, I don't think I said Russia couldn't win, I was just merely stating that even though you think they should have won, China had the best record of all the teams in the tournament. Basically, I'm saying it wasn't a fluke. You mention the loss of Artamonova, but I think China's loss of Zhao was huge. Their tallest player and most likely their best blocker was not available to help stop to fire power of Russia, although the rest of the team did a decent job. In all honesty, we cannot know how these two teams would have performed without their star players so there's no sense in debating too heavily. I agree, a lineup of Gamova, Artamonova, and Sokolova would have been huge, but I think China's defense and varied attack still could have caused them problems.


    The point I was referring to happened in the first set, some time after the first technical time out. Russian ball set to the outside and blocked straight up by China. Feng hit the ball on the ensuing play and Tyurina (although a couple of feet off the net), still jumped to stop the ball. That's a block, is it not? It wasn't a huge point, but it gave Russia some momentum after being down two or three points. Plotnikova was my favourite Russian for her attitude and sportsmanship, but hardly got set. I think she got two sets in the last three sets of the match. Anyway, hope China can hold off your Russians in 2008.

  • Quote from "chalsr"

    Hi Nick,


    First of all, thank you for your polite response. I am a huge tennis fan and those forums can get downright nasty if you say something some one doesn't like. Anyway, I don't think I said Russia couldn't win, I was just merely stating that even though you think they should have won, China had the best record of all the teams in the tournament. Basically, I'm saying it wasn't a fluke. You mention the loss of Artamonova, but I think China's loss of Zhao was huge. Their tallest player and most likely their best blocker was not available to help stop to fire power of Russia, although the rest of the team did a decent job. In all honesty, we cannot know how these two teams would have performed without their star players so there's no sense in debating too heavily.


    yes, chalsr, thats fair to acknowledge the loss of zhao ruirui for china as well
    anyway, the chinese coach still regarded russia as the strongest contestant for gold in 2008, he made this statement before 2006 world championship


    we all know that brazil have a very great chance in world cup, lets wait and see if brazil could win over russia this year


    but i think the current russia team is so much better than in the past cos the two middle blockers are so tall and so useful, and the setter is a lot more than sheshenia -- one thing i dont understand, why karpol used sheshenina for OG, she was too young for OG lol


    for your wish that china to hold off russia in 08, the first thing china should do is to get back the ideal reception. you can see how poorly china received in championship, almost terrible, especially the last set when russia was leading 19-12, gamova's serve was simply way too strong for china and her served zealed the set and the game


    for anything to stop russia, currently i look forward to the montreux and GP
    cos the chinese new players have lots to learn in BIG tournaments

  • Quote from "chalsr"

    Hi Nick,


    First of all, thank you for your polite response.
    Anyway, hope China can hold off your Russians in 2008.


    Chalsr, you're welcome :wink2:
    As we're on different sides of the fence I wish China won't hold off Russia in 2008 8).


    The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself. (Oscar Wilde).

  • Quote from "Nick"

    Chalsr, you're welcome :wink2:
    As we're on different sides of the fence I wish China won't hold off Russia in 2008 8).


    bad news to chalsr but good news to nick, i guess :D
    anyway, just some news
    do you remember the young no 1 of china yi-mei wang, unfortunately she suffered injuries recently and the coach said she need 4 weeks to recover, which means she might not get ready for montreux


    and since she gained a ot of weight back in her club, more than 103.5kg :shock: last month, heavier than the 2m tall men players, so she might not be playing in may


    also some news, which might be the reversal of the above
    the choach uses another spiker from the military, 22 years old to replace wang. the new player looks like a mini size of wang though :)

  • I agree with you Colossus! Russia has a better setter. The only thing to say is that Akulova is 178-179cm, not 184cm. Look at the photos, she is smaller than Sheshenina and not very tall from Kryuchkova. The tallest setters are the Brazilian one (186cm) and Belcik (185cm). But for a setter is not that important.

  • Quote from "samba player"

    I agree with you Colossus! Russia has a better setter. The only thing to say is that Akulova is 178-179cm, not 184cm. Look at the photos, she is smaller than Sheshenina and not very tall from Kryuchkova. The tallest setters are the Brazilian one (186cm) and Belcik (185cm). But for a setter is not that important.


    akulova is only 179cm, but the fivb info on russian team says she is 184, thats why i believe she is actually 184


    brazil setter is the tallest, :shock: 186cm, omg, i guess she couldnt replave fafao, right; i mean, she will if her setting goes well with the other players

  • About Russian team
    What do you think about Gosha being changed by the libero, and leaving Boro in the back court? China and Cuba do this, leaving Yan Liu and Carillo and the libero replacing Calderon and Wang. To train Boro in reception and defence is wiser rather than training Gosha, who is older.

  • Quote from "colossus"

    akulova is only 179cm, but the fivb info on russian team says she is 184, thats why i believe she is actually 184


    brazil setter is the tallest, :shock: 186cm, omg, i guess she couldnt replave fafao, right; i mean, she will if her setting goes well with the other players


    What Brazilian setter are you talking about, samba_player? :roll: Fofão is 173cm, Carolina is 182cm, Marcelle is 181cm and Dani Lins is 184cm. The only Brazilian setter with 186 is Ana Tiemi, and I doubt she's coming to the main team (at least as one of the 6) very soon, she's only 19.

  • Quote from "samba player"

    About Russian team
    What do you think about Gosha being changed by the libero, and leaving Boro in the back court? China and Cuba do this, leaving Yan Liu and Carillo and the libero replacing Calderon and Wang. To train Boro in reception and defence is wiser rather than training Gosha, who is older.


    if think thats very logical to put boro in back court. gosha's case is quite different cos gamova does not receive, so gosha has to so that russia will be like this: gosha, sokolova and libero do all the reception


    if borodakova can attack from the back row, then she could do reception. i guess she will in some time
    but i think the wise caprara will use this year for some new formation for the world cup


    and brazil's 19 year old setter, well, not a problem if she set the ball well and goes well with the team. youth is what makes sports, isnt it? :D

  • Quote from "colossus"

    if think thats very logical to put boro in back court. gosha's case is quite different cos gamova does not receive, so gosha has to so that russia will be like this: gosha, sokolova and libero do all the reception


    if borodakova can attack from the back row, then she could do reception. i guess she will in some time
    but i think the wise caprara will use this year for some new formation for the world cup


    and brazil's 19 year old setter, well, not a problem if she set the ball well and goes well with the team. youth is what makes sports, isnt it? :D


    I agree with you, except for the "she plays well" thing :wink2: I think she's not a setter for national team (yet!)

  • Quote from "LothiePG"

    [quote="colossus"
    and brazil's 19 year old setter, well, not a problem if she set the ball well and goes well with the team. youth is what makes sports, isnt it? :D[/quote]


    I agree with you, except for the "she plays well" thing :wink2: I think she's not a setter for national team (yet!)


    but didnt some say that she is gonna appeare in this years GP as the new setter for brazil, i heard from some brazil fans that she will play this year???

  • Quote from "colossus"

    but didnt some say that she is gonna appeare in this years GP as the new setter for brazil, i heard from some brazil fans that she will play this year???


    It's all speculation, nothing official has been released. Of course it's a possibility since Brazil is going to have the main team in the Pan American Games and the B team to play in Grand Prix, and also Brazil just wants to send new players to GP to acquire experience. But we have already 4 setters, and I don't have any idea if he's going to call one more, maybe if he does, it's just to see how she would behave.
    Actually I hope we're talking about the same player, because there are two very young setters with almost no experience: Ana Tiemi (the 186cm setter - some say she has 188cm) and Dani Lins (184cm, already played some championships with the B team)...
    If they say Dani is going to be the main setter for GP, I'd believe. But I didn't hear about Ana, she has never been in the adult NT.

  • [quote="LothiePG"]
    It's all speculation, nothing official has been released. Of course it's a possibility since Brazil is going to have the main team in the Pan American Games and the B team to play in Grand Prix, and also Brazil just wants to send new players to GP to acquire experience. But we have already 4 setters, and I don't have any idea if he's going to call one more, maybe if he does, it's just to see how she would behave.


    but if brazil already have 4 setters, then its okay cos brazil already look beyong 2008 and plan further ahead :D

  • Quote from "chalsr"


    The point I was referring to happened in the first set, some time after the first technical time out. Russian ball set to the outside and blocked straight up by China. Feng hit the ball on the ensuing play and Tyurina (although a couple of feet off the net), still jumped to stop the ball. That's a block, is it not? It wasn't a huge point, but it gave Russia some momentum after being down two or three points. Plotnikova was my favourite Russian for her attitude and sportsmanship, but hardly got set. I think she got two sets in the last three sets of the match. Anyway, hope China can hold off your Russians in 2008.


    Out of curiosity, I checked out that particular play (first set, Chn 13-Rus 12) Zhang and Feng blocks Sokolova but the ball ends up in the air near the right side of the net of the Chinese court. Feng decides to take a swing at it, but on the Russian side, no one is up on the net to block. Tyurina, waiting in the front area to dig, then takes a little hop/skip and raises her hand seemingly attempting to "block" the ball about two feet away from the net. From the TV angle, her hands do not appear to go over the net, so in my humble opinion, I don't think that action can be remotely called a block. Besides, Feng sharply angles her spike that it zooms past the the right side of Tyurina, rendering the "block" moot. Sheshenina gets a hand on the hit, but it sails out of bonds. However, Gamova goes after it digs the ball with one hand, overpasses to the Chinese court where Zhang tries to convert. Saokolova and Plotnikova reads what Zhang is about to attempt and blocks her. The ball falls on the Chinese court, with Zhou attemting to dig it to no avail. Point to Russia. 8)

  • Quote from "Mireya Luis"

    Out of curiosity, I checked out that particular play (first set, Chn 13-Rus 12) 8)


    yeah, i think the first 2 sets are most remarkable, consider the fact that the first set russia won only 30-28 and the second set is 27-25 and the lost 4th set 23-25 while leading 23-21


    the whole final is the best game so far lol cos the game lasts for more than 2 and a half hour :D

  • I know! Russia really surprised me in the first 2 sets. They were really going after each ball like there was no tomorrow. Sokolova was having a hard time getting a clean kill, but she was really playing smart volleyball by tooling the very formidable Chinese blocks. Feng, on the other hand, was simply amazing! She was blocking like crazy, and hitting a few balls as well.


  • I'm a little late to respond this message, still, thanks colossus for the info, in my opinion you always try to give us interesting info as quick as possible, continue in that way :wink2:


    As for Yi-mei.. Frankly speaking I can only wish her to lose her weight and treat all her injuries.
    Also, Russia don't take Montreux seriously, we don't have aim to win this tournament, so it's no matter what squads of what teams we face. It's like game practice for young and unexperienced players, nothing else. (If you have said that Feng Kun, Zhao Rui Rui, and Yang Hao won't take part in OG and for example Liu Yanan and Zhou Suhong are in bad form, may be I'd be happy in some way... 8) ). But absence of Yi-mei Wang on montreux.... you understood me :wink2:
    Still, again, thanks for info. It's always interesting to read news about main rivals on international arena.


    The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself. (Oscar Wilde).

  • Quote from "Nick"

    Also, Russia don't take Montreux seriously, we don't have aim to win this tournament, so it's no matter what squads of what teams we face. It's like game practice for young and unexperienced players, nothing else. (If you have said that Feng Kun, Zhao Rui Rui, and Yang Hao won't take part in OG and for example Liu Yanan and Zhou Suhong are in bad form, may be I'd be happy in some way... 8) ). But absence of Yi-mei Wang on montreux.... you understood me :wink2:
    Still, again, thanks for info. It's always interesting to read news about main rivals on international arena.


    welcome, nick, theres no such thing as too late :)
    but theres a new wing spiker xiao qing, --one of my fav rising star in the team---just 22 years old, with experience she simply has as much power as yi-mei


    currently the biggest rival is not from china yet, your russia has to face brazil first cos china is not going to world cup---^^
    i think ze roberto will do something to their team too---watch out---paula is a great player too, so, russia has to face paula, jacqueline and sheilla


    at the moment, brazil has the best reception, if russia wants to win over brazil, russia has to break their reception lol
    cant wait for the new season to come, :D