2018 FIVB World Championship - Japan

    Quote from zhutingfan

    So USA is out, and in a few hours Japan is also likely out. Looks like tomorrow is just friendlies..... 😂 😂 😂

    I wouldn't say so just yet. Tomorrow's matches determine who gets paired up with who. And at this point it could be anyone's ball game. ITA vs. SRB match is before CHN vs. NED. China or Netherlands will decide who they want to pair up with by either winning or losing.

    Quote from tunc

    If you have a dominant OPP, then you pass to next round in this WCH. USA, Russia and Turkey lost beacuse of this reason.

    You forgot to add or Zhu Ting :lol:

    Quote from bumpsetspike

    I wouldn't say so just yet. Tomorrow's matches determine who gets paired up with who. And at this point it could be anyone's ball game. ITA vs. SRB match is before CHN vs. NED. China or Netherlands will decide who they want to pair up with by either winning or losing.

    I forgot this isn't the football world cup where games start simultaneously to prevent picking opponents :aww::aww::aww::aww::aww::aww:

    Congrats To the Dutch team and Lonneke..what a comeback and good luck in the semis!

    The Usa (the last Champion) wasnt good enough at this Wch

    now Serbia and most probably Italy will be the other pool's winners..


    who would you avoid facing? Italy or Serbia?


    both are good teams so no need any tactics..i would give some rest to the core players : Lonneke,Zhu if i were the coach of those teams

    Didn't enjoy the match particularly, not of very good qualify. I personally think the stamina was the problem for USA, especially Larson. She lost the correct form because of the battle yesterday and because of age. Had Kiraley considered to sub her in the 4th set, the result might be different.

    Congrats to the Netherlands, I thought they would have collapsed right after Rio, guess I was wrong.


    USA...no words really. One opponent less for the medals all the way to Tokyo 2020 and a golden generation wasted. They really could have won everything in the last decade.

    Quote from coreyyc

    Didn't enjoy the match particularly, not of very good qualify. I personally think the stamina was the problem for USA, especially Larson. She lost the correct form because of the battle yesterday and because of age. Had Kiraley considered to sub her in the 4th set, the result might be different.

    Stamina was the problem yes, but who should've come in her place? Hill came for MBH.. Larson was USA's best player this WCH, she did everything, even scoring.. but I agree today she wore out as the match progressed

    I don`t think China really cares to be honest....Yeah they lost for Italy..but remember Serbia also won against them in 3 at the OG preliminary but then lost in the Final. Italy might crack under the pressure unless Lang Ping really thinks Italy is the team to beat.


    of course I hope Serbia wins....but I still see China as the favorite....so I hope Lang Ping will pick Italy for the semis :rose:

    IMO Serbia are slightly weaker of the two because of that 2nd OH position, but then you still have to deal with Boskovic and Mihajlovic. On the other hand, Italy is running like a well oiled machine. Firing from all positions.


    I think both China and Netherlands will want to avoid Italy. Instead take a chance against the Serbians.

    What a comeback from the Netherlands! Very well played by Sloëtjes! :obey:Good replacement by Koolhaas, Schoot and Plak. I really thought they could not manage without the Kruijf, but they are in the semi-finals!:white::woohoo:

    Quote from Insider

    Oh! we are going to have 3 European teams in the final four this year. Have that ever happened before?

    May be it's just an Italian thing... but how can you (general you) be so comfortable taking results for granted?


    I mean, less than 2 hours ago for many people here Ned was a mess, there was no way they can advance, their pool was absolutely the weakest and so on... And we know how it's finished.


    So, may be it's just semantic, but it would be nice to be less assertive in general, adding little sentences like 'I think that', 'I believe that' and similar ^^

    Quote from USAvolleyfan

    Stamina was the problem yes, but who should've come in her place? Hill came for MBH.. Larson was USA's best player this WCH, she did everything, even scoring.. but I agree today she wore out as the match progressed

    Agree that she's the best of the squad. I meant giving up the 4th because of the large gap and sub her with whomever the 4th OH is. Just like what ITA men's team did in Rio semi. Just a thought.......