Men's World Grand Champions Cup 2017

  • LOL Iran the only defeated team after the second day ! Didn't expect that at all :D the win vs Italy was good (not great, still thinking about Ghafour missing the match point in the 4th set) but today's result was just great against probably the best team of the tournament. they were completely hopeless in first 2 sets but everything has changed when Manavinejad came in. his reception is still poor and he does mistakes here and there but he is the only Iranian OH who can spike in world level. and against better teams like USA you have to take that risk.


    I think there is a good chance for medal now but if they play careless (like WL) even Japan can beat them, so it's still a long way to go. today finally we saw the Iran team with the same old fighting spirit

  • They were completely hopeless in first 2 sets but everything has changed when Manavinejad came in.


    Verona will be very pleased!



    Today finally we saw the Iran team with the same old fighting spirit


    I thought the same even yesterday ;)



    Ps I can't believe that despite the winning vs Brazil we are in a lower position than yesterday... That's not fair! :lol:



    Quote

    Iran 2v-0p 4p 6sv-4sp
    Usa 1v-1p 4p 5sv-3sp
    Brasile 1v-1p 4p 5sv-3sp
    Francia 1v-1p 3p 3sv-3sp (1.05 qp)
    Italia 1v-1p 3p 5sv-5sp (0.92 qp)
    Giappone 0v-2p 0p 0sv-6sp

  • Nice win for Italy, and I have never ever seen Vetori play like this. Also Lanza was hammering the ball. I think this is the best I`ve seen of Gianelli all summer.


    But I`m not so surprised. Whenever a team is playing against Brazil they will always bring their best, and that is what Italy did, now I will not be surprised and they don`t play like this against everyone else as the motivation will be a little lower than when they play Brazil.
    Same goes for France, they lost for Brazil but they still played better than in the win against Japan.


    Brazil vs Iran will be interesting, Brazil will come gunning for them.

  • Nice win for Italy, and I have never ever seen Vetori play like this.


    You mean with the NT or in general? If it's in general, his second year in Modena was outstanding: when Bruno had found the perfect ball for him (because Vettori is not a player that feels ok with every ball...) he was crucial in almost all the important matches (at least in the Italian Championship, I don't remember in CL).



    think this is the best I`ve seen of Gianelli all summer.


    I think I agree... Still not a perfect intesa with the back set, but at this point we've learned he will need more time to adjust it perfectly (hopefully not that much :P).

  • About Vetorri, yeah I meant with the NT. He was really fierce and he played like he did not care that Brazil was the one on the other side. I can not wait to see Eder playing with Gianelli.

  • in the first set of BRA x FRA, what was FRA players complaining to the referee about? right at the beginning of the match...


    and what's up with all the blondies?


    kind of weird to see all three lyneel, clevenot and tillie playing at the same time...

  • Whoah! Thats the 1st time i witnessed a pipe from lucas! Impressive

  • BRA is giving it all for a 3-set win. Boy they are unstoppable even with an early 4-pt lead of IRI. And racked up points from stuff blocks and superb 2 digs from lucarelli to end the streak of IRI. It is indeed anyone’s game at this point. Well not considering JPN. Congrats BRA!

  • What a game from BRA. They gave it all to secure that 3 points knowing that IRI was playing with full of surprises. And that defeat against ITA really put them into their places.


    IRI fought a good fight on the 2nd set but when BRA got into their rhythm on the 3rd set, there is nothing they can do.


    It seems like BRA is once again on the favorite list to win gold. It all depends on the match against USA.

  • Grebinnikov is sorely missed by the aces and stuff blocks of USA. Slow start for team yavbou

  • After the first two days I wasn't expecting such a clear loss by Iran... It's ok that now there aren't undefeat team but at the same time a more close match would have kept thing more interesting!

  • This is the worst set I have seen for FRA. Too bad, poor reception/passing is killing them right now. Mr. Anderson didn’t give them the pleasure to bounce back from the service line, 5-6 aces and free balls to bury the set.

  • France did not fight at all. They were all confused. Kevin Tillie's passing is a disaster. I think he gave up almost 10 aces today. I can see they lost 3-0 for the remaining matches. You can ignore the tournament but playing like this only show that you're slowly going downhill. I hope next year they can play better. They played like dead after WL.

  • Russell, Sander, Anderson had a 2-hr hitting practice with FRA. They were flying left to right, front and back and FRA court was very welcoming of them. Tillie as a libero is the worst call this season. But i pity more JPN for having beaten by FRA in 3.