2018 FIVB World Championship - Japan

  • Pool A is ridiculous and OBVIOUSLY the host team is there :rolleyes: :rolll: :aww:


    Why is it a surprise? The host is always seeded as 1 and get the 8th and 9th position in the overall ranking. To me, the odd part is why Argentina is in Pool A but not DOM that is actually the 9th in the world ranking. Maybe they use the serpentine system only for top 8 and 'draw' rest of the teams:rolleyes:


    By the way, I agree on final 16. Apparently, FIVB doesn't want to take the risk of that Japan might be eliminated in such an early stage. Then at least, there should be quarterfinals as in OG. This formula is so pointless :aww: Which group do you guys think is the hardest one?

  • Group C is hardest. In the other groups it is easy to predict who will be the top 4 (not necessarily the order).


    But with group C you have USA and Russia who should dominate, T&T who will surely lose every match and then Korea, Thailand and Azerbaijan all fighting for 2 spots and I think they are all quite evenly matched.


    Group D has 2 very strong teams, followed by DOM and PUR, I guess Kazakhstan have a small chance of upsetting PUR?


    Group B has 4 really good teams, but I don't think Canada or current Cuba can compete with them


    Group A is a joke


  • Maybe they use the serpentine system only for top 8 and 'draw' rest of the teams:rolleyes:


    Yes, that's how they did it. The rest were divided into four pots with four teams and drawn randomly.


    The "non-Japanese" half of the draw is obviously stronger. And the system really is a mess, it's too long and the third stage is really pointless. I'd much rather see QFs instead too.

  • A 5th rank match will take place on the same day as semifinals

    Ugh, why? I get why you have a 3rd place match (bronze medal) but 5th place??? Surely the players will be so disappointed from being eliminated they won't care about finishing 5th or 6th of all things :down:

  • :lol: FIVB is so ridiculous


    I suppose I should just be pleased the days of playoffs all the way down to 11th place are over :lol:

  • Yes, that's how they did it. The rest were divided into four pots with four teams and drawn randomly.


    The "non-Japanese" half of the draw is obviously stronger. And the system really is a mess, it's too long and the third stage is really pointless. I'd much rather see QFs instead too.


    Thanks for the clarification! The ranking among ARG, KOR, DOM and TUR is not realistic anyway so it is not a bad idea to just draw it

  • It's a scandal, once again, that the host team has a ridiculous pool.
    I'm Italian so I shouldn't speak, as Italy had ridiculous pool too when we were the host.
    But things must change, FIVB must change

  • Since Russia and USA will be in the same pool, here's a throwback to one of their matches in Round 1 last WCH 14. The 1st set in particular was already a tiebreaker 34-32!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXBHqo5juv4



    This year marked Gamova's return to the NT after London, Kosheleva being the best attacker in the world at that time, and Goncharova's emergence as one of the top players. So much memories!

  • Teams can lose a match each round and still have a chance for gold. It all comes down to stamina.

  • Since Russia and USA will be in the same pool, here's a throwback to one of their matches in Round 1 last WCH 14. The 1st set in particular was already a tiebreaker 34-32!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXBHqo5juv4



    This year marked Gamova's return to the NT after London, Kosheleva being the best attacker in the world at that time, and Goncharova's emergence as one of the top players. So much memories!

    How many blocks did Harmatto make in 1st set alone?

  • Kosheleva the best attacker in the world? LMAO :dance6: :dance6:

    Yes she was regarded by most as the best attacker at the time and even Paul Sunderland labeled her as that. Back in her prime or her "Golden days" circa 2013-2015, she was such a powerful spiking machine with incredible height reach (whether or not she still has those skills now is a different topic) and I think no OH really came close to her attacking-wise. Kosheleva's decline I would argue only really happened in 2016 forward and we never really know the exact reason. Her NT teammate, Goncharova only improved her game and doesn't appear to suffer the same fate.

  • How many blocks did Harmatto make in 1st set alone?

    A ton! IMO Akinradewo-Harmotto was the strongest MB duo US had in recent years. If only Foluke improved her blocking skills :whistle:

  • how is ARG ranked higher than THA, PUR, AZE, BUL? what a joke. that's why pool A is so easy for the hosts. how convenient...


    i don't think AZE will play as well as playing at home. even at home, they totally sucked in the semis and bronze medal match.


    i would not like to see a round of 16 (like fifa) but i also think this 3rd round is totally unnecessary and stupid. fivb has the worst ideas, like this and pools of 3 teams. :aww: :aww: :thumbdown: :wall:


    canter, CUB is about 3rd-level these days, they played in the GP group 3 last year. they are about the level of teams like COL, PER, ARG, these days...

  • Teams can lose a match each round and still have a chance for gold. It all comes down to stamina.


    Which works in the favor of the host as well. It's a total conspiracy. Unless larger people with more weight to lug around really do use less energy doing it . lol

  • This is not a conspiracy on the pools. The FIVB changed the seeding to only host +top 7 teams. Last two tournaments it was host + top 11. I think that the extra row gave the tournament a little more randomness.


    The tournament has always had the teams carry their results from the first round with the teams that advanced. With only 3 teams advancing from the second round, you have to win matches against the other pool from the first round. Japan in 2010 as hosts lost their first match of the second round to China. However the Japanese had won all five first round matches. So, a loss at the beginning did not hurt them as much. But if they had one lost entering the second round, every match for them would be win or go home.


    Pool B in my mind is the toughest pool, Bulgaria and Turkey will sneak up on you, plus Italy and China cannot fall asleep against them. Japan in Pool A, in my mind must sweep (5-0) their first round matches. Facing Serbia and Brazil in the second round means that if they lost to the Netherlands, they would have to beat one or both to make the third round.