Youth Olympic Games 2010


    14 - 26 August 2010
    Singapore


    Qualified Teams
    Singapore (Hosts)
    Japan (Asia champions)
    Belgium (European champions)
    Peru (South American champions)
    Egypt (African champions)
    USA (NORCECA champions)


    The draw was completed as per the following:
    Pool A
    Seeded: Singapore
    1st Draw: Peru
    2nd Draw: Japan
    Pool B
    Seeded: Belgium
    1st Draw: Egypt
    2nd Draw: USA


    The competition starts on August 21, with each team in each pool will play each other once before the top two sides in each pool advance to the semifinals, which will be held on August 24, before the 5th-6th and 3rd-4th playoffs and the gold medal final take place on August 25 and August 26 respectively.

    CALENDAR:


    AUG 21
    SINGAPORE vs PERU
    BEL vs EGYPT


    AUG 22
    SINGAPORE vs JAPAN
    BEL vs USA


    AUG 23
    PERU vs JAPAN
    USA vs EGYPT


    Heavy favorite for gold medal are Belgium and USA.
    However Belgium lost her best player to an injury:


    BELGIUM'S hopes of winning the Youth Olympic Games girls' volleyball
    title have been dealt a major blow - their skipper Lise van Hecke, 17,
    has pulled out with a knee injury.



    The European youth champions are ranked sixth in the world,
    the highest-ranked girls' team in the YOG, and are the hot favourites
    for the gold.



    But how significant will the 1.86m-tall Lise's absence be
    for Belgium? Coach Julien van de Vyver summed it up in a single sentence
    over the phone: 'We have nobody who can replace her.'



    One only needs to look at Lise's individual accolades to see why.



    Last year, she not only helped her country to beat Serbia
    3-1 in the European Youth Championship final and land their first
    European title but was also named the tournament's Best Scorer, Best
    Spiker, and Most Valuable Player.



    The team then went on to win the bronze at the world championship in Thailand, where Lise was also named Best Spiker.



    Still, van de Vyver believes that his charges can clinch gold in Singapore.



    Said the veteran coach of 20 years: 'We are weakened, but we
    have a lot of international experience. We will have to change and
    reorganise our game. We know how to do it.'



    He continued: 'This team have progressed a lot in the last
    five years. The players fight for every ball, are very enthusiastic, and
    are quite aggressive with good control skills.'



    Belgium will be banking on three key players - the
    1.82m-tall Laura Heyrman, who will play as a middle blocker, libero
    Sophie van Nimmen and van de Vyver's daughter Ilka, who was named the
    Best Setter at last year's European Youth Championship.



    Although the squad are one of the most talented youth teams
    to come out of Belgium in years, the girls will face stiff competition
    from the United States, Peru and Japan when in Singapore.



    World No. 5 Japan are the Asian qualifiers while South American winners Peru beat world No.1 Brazil to qualify for the YOG.



    Said van de Vyver: 'We have met these teams at international
    competitions, so we know what they can do. Japan, for instance, are
    fast, skilful, aggressive and strong in defence. They don't make many
    fouls.'



    At the YOG, for both boys and girls, the teams will be
    divided into two groups. Following the round-robin stages, the top two
    teams will progress into the semi-finals. The last team from each group
    will battle for fifth spot.