The Italian Team played with its reserve players that's why the match was so close. No Piccinini, no Aguero, no Lo Bianco and no Gioli.
As for the Polish team, they don't have its main players as well. But considering the players who are in the roster for this competition, it was expected that Italy would win easily if its main players were on court.
The participants os the final round of the World Grand Prix are practically defined.
Brazil
China
Cuba
Italy
Japan
USA
The Cuban team is not officially qualified to the finals yet. They have to beat Thailand first. Anyway, they will only be out of the finals if they lose to Thailand and if Turkey beats Poland.
This final round will be very nice. I'm glad cause Brazil will have the opportunity of facing the probable teams it will face in the quarterfinals of the OG. The only possible opponent of the quarterfinals Brazil won't face in the final round is Poland. Anyway, it would useless to face Poland's B team, it will be better to face Japan.
can anyone post TUR vs USA? Thx!
Brazil 3 - 0 China (25-21, 25-17, 25-20)
It was a superb exhibition of Brazil's team. Even without Paula and Fabiana, Brazil played very well, the reception ran smoothly and the team only gave six points in errors to China.
Thaísa and Mari played very well. Mari surprised me with her receptions, Thaísa did a great job in all fundamentals, especially in serving and blocking and Jaqueline attacks were great. Sheilla compensated for her lousy match two weeks ago and was top scorer of the match with 18 points.
Now I hope the team could gain momentum for the final round. Beating China before their fans, without Paula and Fabiana, and playing amazingly will help the team to be more confident.
This match was by far the best performance of Brazil in the 2008 season. I hope the team could improve even more for the OG. If that happens, the dream of the Golden Medal can come true. The OG will be Fofão's last competition in the NT. She surely deserves the Golden Medal.
Poland 3 - 0 Turkey (25:21, 25:22, 25:22)
woohooo! Girls managed to win their last match, their game is better than it was in the beginning.
Italy defeated USA 3:O. I have a mixed emotions on this. Im happy that Lang Ping let Foluke played..She is the topscorer for the US with 11 points. However, im just annoyed with their performance..getting defeated in 3 sets..I was expecting this as Italy played with almost all of their starting line up in Beijing (with only Simona Gioli lacking). Taismary was Italy's top scorer( 
). USA, on the other hand, didn't saw Scott-Aruda played.
I want to Congratulates for those teams who Qualified for the finals at world grand prix at japan.....
Brazil, China, Italy, USA, Cuba and since the Japan hosted the final at thier homeland...... they were already qualified for the finals for World Grand Prix 2008......... Im looking forward for those 6 teams qualified...........
ashley
Display MorePoland 3 - 0 Turkey (25:21, 25:22, 25:22)
woohooo! Girls managed to win their last match, their game is better than it was in the beginning.
oh my god finally 
seems like this last weekend was pretty alright for the polish team. Im looking forward to see the top players back
oh my god finally
seems like this last weekend was pretty alright for the polish team. Im looking forward to see the top players back
i hope that glinka, and skowronska are well rested... i'm excited too to see them play with the rest of the team
Finally some good matches by Polish team. Not bad against strong Italy (even if some players didn't play) and good Turkey. Generally Poland always win over Turkey in last years, no matter which rosters play. I don't know why, but it is just like that. It is good, that we win above Thailand in the GP rankings
Oh, and I have too add, that Barańska played very well today. Probably the first time in this GP edition. Too bad, it was also the last tme in this year...
Display MoreBrazil 3 - 0 China (25-21, 25-17, 25-20)
It was a superb exhibition of Brazil's team. Even without Paula and Fabiana, Brazil played very well, the reception ran smoothly and the team only gave six points in errors to China.
Thaísa and Mari played very well. Mari surprised me with her receptions, Thaísa did a great job in all fundamentals, especially in serving and blocking and Jaqueline attacks were great. Sheilla compensated for her lousy match two weeks ago and was top scorer of the match with 18 points.
Now I hope the team could gain momentum for the final round. Beating China before their fans, without Paula and Fabiana, and playing amazingly will help the team to be more confident.
This match was by far the best performance of Brazil in the 2008 season. I hope the team could improve even more for the OG. If that happens, the dream of the Golden Medal can come true. The OG will be Fofão's last competition in the NT. She surely deserves the Golden Medal.
I am so sad at this result...Hopefully, China will adjust themselves and regain confindence in final games and also in OG.
I'm not surprised, that Brazil won, but that high? 
its just the GP.... brazil can win the GP as often as they want, but they have to prove soon that they can win big tournaments as well
Im very very excited to see them in the OGs
Finally Poland succeeded to win 
I really liked Baranska in this match and the second opposite of the team also made a good performance
the second opposite of the team also made a good performance
You probably mean Woźniakowska
I forgot to add something: the atmosphere during matches in Taipei is much better than in Japan 
its just the GP.... brazil can win the GP as often as they want, but they have to prove soon that they can win big tournaments as well
Im very very excited to see them in the OGs
I couldn't disagree more!
It's not a matter of winning or losing. It is a matter of having the right attitude on court.
I have no crystal-ball to predict what will happen in the OG. But it feels so good to see that our girls are on the right track! I can't wait to see Brazil playing the OG. Winning or losing it's part of the sport. Anyway, if Brazil keeps on having the same attitude and fighting spirit on court, it will be impossible to beat Brazil.
Brazil, China, Russia and Italy are the strongest candidates for the Golden Medal in the OG. It was perfectly clear to see this in the WGP.
Facing Italy and Russia in the preliminary round will be tough, and I think Brazil's aim is finishing 1st in its pool so that we can face the weakest team of the other pool in the quarterfinals. I have this feeling Brazil will face Poland! LOL!
It will be nice! Cause we've never lost a single set to the Poles and this will help our girls a lot. With a straight-set victory over the Poles in the quarterfinal match of the OG, Brazil's girls won't get tired for the semifinal match against the big teams!
Facing Italy and Russia in the preliminary round will be tough, and I think Brazil's aim is finishing 1st in its pool so that we can face the weakest team of the other pool in the quarterfinals. I have this feeling Brazil will face Poland! LOL!
It will be nice! Cause we've never lost a single set to the Poles and this will help our girls a lot. With a straight-set victory over the Poles in the quarterfinal match of the OG, Brazil's girls won't get tired for the semifinal match against the big teams!
Don't be so sure. I hope you will be surprised. Too much self-confidence is sometimes worse than being affraid.
Facing Italy and Russia in the preliminary round will be tough, and I think Brazil's aim is finishing 1st in its pool so that we can face the weakest team of the other pool in the quarterfinals. I have this feeling Brazil will face Poland! LOL!
Oh no Poland-Brazil in quaterfinal ?? No, no, no ! It would be the worse case for our team. We still don't know how to play against Brazil... Of course the best opponent for us is Serbia but Poland plays very well against Russia too.
It would be nice to play against Brazil in 1/2 because olympic semifinales aren't good sides of Brazil
Match Schedule - World Grand Prix - Final Round
Wednesday - July 9th
1st match - 03:30 AM (GMT) - Brazil x USA
2nd match - 06:00 AM (GMT) - China x Italy
3rd match - 10:30 AM (GMT) - Cuba x Japan
Thursday - July 10th
1st match - 04:00 AM (GMT) - Brazil x Italy
2nd match - 07:00 AM (GMT) - China x Cuba
3rd match - 10:30 AM (GMT) - Japan x USA
Friday - July 11th
1st match - 04:00 AM (GMT) - Brazil x China
2nd match - 06:30 AM (GMT) - Cuba x USA
3rd match - 10:00 AM (GMT) - Italy x Japan
Saturday - July 12th
1st match - 03:30 AM (GMT) - Brazil x Cuba
2nd match - 06:30 AM (GMT) - Italy x USA
3rd match - 10:00 AM (GMT) - China x Japan
Sunday - July 13th
1st match - 03:30 AM (GMT) - Cuba x Italy
2nd match - 06:30 AM (GMT) - China x USA
3rd match - 10:00 AM (GMT) - Brazil x Japan
Do you know something about team rosters for Final Round ? What about Valeskinha, Gioli and Del Core ? Will they play in Yokohama?