2010 Youth Olympic Games - qualification phase

    Youth Olympic Games qualification begins in Caribbean
    The CAZOVA Youth Boys’ Tournament started on Friday in Curacao, signaling the start of the Youth Olympic Qualification process for Caribbean teams.


    Defending champions Barbados enjoyed an easy victory against Trinidad and Tobago, winning 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15) whilst Curacao defeated Netherlands Antilles also in straight sets 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 on the first day.


    On the second day Curacao were convincing winners over Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-11, 25-6, 25-10) to book a championship deciding match against Barbados, who beat Netherlands Antilles 25-11, 25-15, 25-13.


    The tournament is the first time Curacao has hosted an international Volleyball event, and the winner will move on to play in the NORCECA Continental Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico in April, which is the final leg of the qualifying process.

    Members of the public are being asked to vote for their favourite design for the first Youth Olympic Games medals.


    Participants from 36 countries across five continents submitted their own designs, and visitors to the Youth Olympic Games website can vote for their favourite out of a choice of over 100.


    The 10 best medals will then be presented to an IOC jury who will elect the winning design.


    The Youth Olympic Games are taking place for the first time in Singapore from 14 August to 26 August, and will include a volleyball tournament to crown the first Youth Olympic Games Volleyball Champions.


    To cast your vote visit http://www.medaldesigncompetition.com. Voting will be open until 22 January.

    Quote from Justyna


    The 5 winner of each YCC (2009 and 2010) plus the host country (or the 2009 YWC).


    World Champions 2009 - Serbia
    Asia - Qualifying tournament in April
    CAVB - South Africa qualifying tournament from March 1-6
    CEV - Continental champs 09 - France
    CSV - Nomination according to ranking
    NORCECA - Qualifying tournament in April


    Medal Design Competition’s grand prize winner http://www.medaldesigncompetit…nts/EN/WinningDesign.aspx

    Quote from Justyna

    World Champions 2009 - Serbia
    Asia - Qualifying tournament in April
    CAVB - South Africa qualifying tournament from March 1-6
    CEV - Continental champs 09 - France
    CSV - Nomination according to ranking
    NORCECA - Qualifying tournament in April


    CSV - Argentina
    CAVB - DR Congo

    HAVANA, Cuba, March 23, 2010 – Relying on the shoulders of sensational Wilfredo Leon, the Cuban Men’s Youth National Team is aiming towards the gold medal in the next NORCECA Continental Championship and the automatic qualification to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.





    “We don’t have any other option and the boys have been working really hard with that in mind,” said head coach Rodolfo Sanchez about the U-19 Cuban squad.





    Leon, the highly touted 16-years old attacker, leads a pack of promising players of the Cuban new-breed that includes setter Alexis Lamadrid, outside hitter Lazaro Fundora, opposite Livan Osoria and libero Yoander Garcia.





    “Leon will be of great help,” said Sanchez. “He is a leader who plays well and has discipline as it is also the case of my whole team.”





    “I am very happy with the boys but I keep telling them not to be over confident because everyone wants to win the NORCECA and making to Singapore,” said Sanchez.





    The NORCECA Continental Boys’ Youth Championship will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico on April 4-12 with the participation of nine teams divided in three pools. The top two pool winners (best points-ratio) will advance directly to the semi finals. The other one will move to the quarterfinals to play with the three second place teams.





    Cuba will be part of Pool A along with USA and Canada. Puerto Rico, Curacao and Dominican Republic will play in Pool B while hosts Mexico will compete with Guatemala and Costa Rica in Pool C.

    Quote

    Cuba will be part of Pool A along with USA and Canada. Puerto Rico, Curacao and Dominican Republic will play in Pool B while hosts Mexico will compete with Guatemala and Costa Rica in Pool C.

    I've heard about the island Curacao, but never knew it had an independent status...It is part of the Netherlands Antilles though, right?

    April 7, 2010



    Cuba’s Strength was too much for Canada


    GUADALAJARA, Mexico, April 7, 2010 – The Cuban team impressed with the strength of their attacks and the effectiveness of their blocking in their debut game against Canada on the second day of the NORCECA Continental Boy’s Sub 19 Volleyball Championship.





    The game finished with 25-14, 25-10 and 25-13, demonstrating not only the superiority of the islanders but the team-work of one of the favorite sides to win the only ticket to the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games at stake in the competition.





    The team’s 16 year-old star, Wilfredo Leon, and the only one with international experience along with two of the Puerto Rican players, was the highest scorer contributing 14 points, followed by attacker Lazaro Fundora’s 13 points.





    Rodolfo Sanchez, Cuba’s coach remarked “our team started out a bit tense and in reality, they didn’t show all of their capabilities and their true level of skill because we have prepared the team to win the Olympic pass and they can give more.”





    “We have put together a selection that is not just Leon, everyone has his function and whenever we make a change, the performance of the team shouldn’t be negatively affected.”





    On his part, Leon, Cuba’s Team Captain expressed his happiness for a job well done by everyone, adding “although there were some minor issues that we need to fix. Personally, I wasn’t nervous, just a bit under pressure.”





    Donald Saxton, Canada’s Technical Director, said “Cuba is very strong and they showed it today and we gave it our best shot. The United States has a more disciplined team but the Cubans are in better physical shape.”





    William Bremmer, Canada’s Team Captain, expressed his happiness in competing against Cuba, saying “we feel honored as it is a powerful team and it was exciting to play against them.”

    GUADALAJARA, Mexico, April 11, 2010b- The Cuban team won today against USA 3-0 (25-16, 25-18 and 25-22) and conquered the gold medal at the NORCECA Continental Boys Sub 19 Volleyball Championship.


    Being the only team to remain undefeated in this championship, Cuba secured their ticket for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games and one of the two tickets for the 2011 World Championship in the discipline.


    The islanders dominated the match from start to end, even though they missed several times with their powerful serve, and it turned out to be an easier victory than the preliminary match in group A, when the Cubans won 27-25, 25-23 and 25-20.


    Nonetheless, we have to recognize the reaction from the USA team in the third set when they won the second technical time and didn’t give up (20-20) until Leon and his team got a second wind and won the match in a stadium with an audience of 3,200.


    Lead by the “Lion King”, the nickname given by the local press to Wilfredo Leon, Cuba dazzled from the time they debuted thanks to their physical strength, their lethal attack and serve as well as the effectiveness of their blockage.


    The highest number of points was scored by Leon, with 22 points, followed by Danger Quintana and Lazaro Fundora, both with 8, while from the opponents, Aaron Russell contributed 9 points.


    Rodolfo Sanchez, Technical Director for the champions, expressed “I’m very happy because just as I had announced at the beginning of this tournament, the team wasn’t just Leon. He has been vital, the soul of the ensemble, but his teammates have complemented him and have also given their best. We fulfilled our dream.”


    Leon pointed out that the “victory wasn’t just for me. All my teammates have contributed. I am so happy to partake in Cuban volleyball with this very talented group.”


    Alexis Lamadrid, Team Captain for Cuba, congratulated the northern team for their resilience and “the beautiful spectacle that they helped create.”


    Gary Sato, Technical Director for the US, acknowledged “we changed our tactical plan in playing against Cuba. We congratulated them for their performance and wish for them to win at the Singapore Youth Olympics.”


    Micah Christenson, Team Captain for the US, added “it didn’t quite work out as we had planned but we really respect Cuba for their excellent game.”

    GUADALAJARA, Mexico, April 11, 2010 – Wilfredo Leon was the Most Valuable Player and the most awarded athlete in the NORCECA Boys’ Youth Championship, which concluded today with Cuba’s gold victory over the United States.



    The “Lion King”, as Leon is affectionately known in and out of his Caribbean homeland, was also honored as Best Scorer with 81 points and Best Attacker.




    The young 16-year-old man, originally from the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, was accompanied in the awards podium by the best players from four other countries.




    Aaron Russell, from the United States, was the Best Blocker while Jose Mendoza was Best Defense and Best Libero as well as Jonathan Ponce as Best Setter, both from Mexico. Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Rivera was Best Server and Costa Rica’s Disotaur Travieso was Best Reception.




    Cuba took the first place, undefeated, after winning five consecutive games, followed by the United States and Puerto Rico.




    Both Cuba and the United States qualified for the World Championship in the category to be celebrated in 2011. Runners up were Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Costa Rica and Curacao.

    The girls youth national teams of various winners of their FIVB area (we are in NORCECA) were just invited to join this year for the first ever youth OLYMPICS in Singapore. However, they have to place 1st (win Gold) in the NORCECA games TODAY at 4:00 vs Mexico. With several members ill, it will be difficult, so prayers please. They have already qualified for Worlds in Turkey next year by placing in the top two. Today's final championship match will determine who gets to go to Singapore.

    Iran clinch gold and tickets to Youth Olympic Games at Asian Boys’ Championship
    Iran defended their Asian Youth Boys’ Volleyball Championship title and secured their place at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games with a 3-2 (25-17, 26-28, 28-26,22-25,15-7 )victory over China in the final here on Friday.


    Iran, who lost only one match to Korea in the preliminary round, will now travel to Singapore for the first Youth Olympic Games from August 14-26 as well as the 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship along with China and Korea, who finished third with a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17) victory over India.


    Elsewhere, Japan edged out Taipei 3-1 (25-11, 20-25, 25-20, 26-24) to secure 5th position and Thailand recorded a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-21) victory over Sri Lanka to finish 7th.


    The match between Iran and China started with a very exciting performance from both sides but the home side easily won the opening set before the Chinese came back from 18-22 down in the second with good blocking to level the scores at one all.


    However, Iran certainly would not let their rivals play the match their own way and an improved spike and service game saw Iran take the third set in 28 minutes.


    Despite falling behind, the Chinese kept fighting and came back again, exploiting Iran’s errors (Iran made a total of 38 errors).


    Although Iran struggled to keep the score board ticking, China, with excellent serving, blocking and spiking, took the fourth set, forcing the match into a decider.


    With 3,500 partisan spectators right behind them, Iran jumped to a 5-1 lead and then increased it to 10-4. Thanks once again to an astonishing attacking from Iran’s Khani M. Ramin, the Most Valuable Player of the Championship, the Iranians sealed the set and the match.


    M. Ramin and Hosseinabadi Javad led Iran to victory by contributing 21 and 19 points respectively. Iran had an 34-26 advantage in spiking, 9-6 in blocking and 8-3 in servicing.


    Team ranking:
    1. Iran 2. China 3. Korea 4. India 5. Japan 6. Chinese Taipei 7. Thailand 8. Sri Lanka 9. Australia 10. Kazakhstan


    Individual awards:
    MVP – Khani M. Ramin (Iran)
    Top Scorer –Anup D’Costa (India)
    Best Spiker – Jin Seong-Tae (Korea)
    Best Blocker –Sadeghiani Armin (Iran)
    Best Server –Song Jianwei (China)
    Best Setter – Lee Min-Gyu (Korea)