Women's World Grand Prix 2017

    Quote from Matthias

    :rolll:
    Yes, there's a tough battle for the "worst hair of the tournament" going on between Frolova and Grajber.


    Frolova got that one wrapped up! That hair is simply inexplicable.
    Brankica would also be in contention had she kept the hairdo from Warsaw WQT that made her look like Obelix. She must have lost a bet or something.

    Polish OHs are just too weak. Grajber should play as libero, she can't kill a ball. Polak simply doesn't belong to any international level, not even close. Wolosz has made some dumb decisions in the end of the 4th set, a slide for Efimienko, you know how she sucks in attack :whistle:


    Smarzek is a dangerous hitter but a terrible defender, the only players I liked today are Kakolewska (without serve errors) and Wiktowska.

    good game by KYK and Malwina Smarzek
    what happened to Tomsia's game..is it regular of hers or is she underperforming ?


    is Malwina's offensive game consistent against good opponents ?


    Poland hasnt had a worldclass MB yet

    It's been quite a while since I last watched Kyla Richey and it's nice to see her playing so well.


    That lefty OPP of Canada has no control over her swings. It's either an impressive kill or it sails waaaay too wide, there seems to be nothing in between for her.

    i dont like South Korean team as much as i like Japanese team.still they (Korea) are more consistent than many european teams
    actually they would be a pretty boring team in case of taking KYK out of the team

    It's funny someone is still claiming Russia playing high and boring volleyball, they aren't. Most importantly there's no one who could hit over the blocks right now. I mean have you watched them recently? Voronkova is playing as OPP and obviously she's not fond of that idea, nevertheless she must because she's the most reliable hitter.
    I don't remember which game, perhaps versus USA, Filistinskaya set to Fetisova to finish the game two times in a row, sadly she couldn't make it but it was definitely not something so typical Russian. Fetisova has developed a lot in terms of attack, Koroleva always has been solid and Efimova is actually quite flexible too.


    Without Goncha-Kosha it's impossible for Russia to play with their old style.


    Fetisova, Startseva and Tretyakova will take a break in the 3rd round by the way.

    Quote from Matthias

    Actually Startseva hasn't been there throughout the whole tournament ;)
    I wonder if Russia will stick to 12 players then or again have Sperskayte play as libero.

    13 players actually.


    Setters: Irina Filishtinskaya, Tatiana Romanova
    Attackers: Maria Frolova, Anna Lazareva, Yulia Kutyukova, Irina Voronkova, Ksenia Parubets
    Middle Blockers: Irina Koroleva-Zaryazhko, Ekaterina Polyakova, Ekaterina Evdokimova, Ekaterina Efimova
    Liberos: Alla Galkina, Angelina Sperskayte

    Quote from Matthias

    Yes she is. That makes those defeats even more shocking...


    i mean, i haven't seen rourke in action much (i don't follow clubs much) but she's such a big hitter, all they have to do is set a high ball for her and she'll crush it... even i could set for her...


    i think it's a very tough fight for the weakest team in the GP between ALG and AUS...

    If Kingdon is a little bit taller like Egonu and Bskovic, she will be the force of team USA,..just give Robnson the libero position and the USA wll boom...

    Quote from Frankrussell

    If Kingdon is a little bit taller like Egonu and Bskovic, she will be the force of team USA,..just give Robnson the libero position and the USA wll boom...


    Actually the idea of moving/bringing Robinson to the libero position doesn't that that bad for the USA. The thing is that Kingdom isn't that tall ( 1.83 cm= 6 ft.) , so I think Karch will relay on Hill going forward ( Wold Cup)

    I just hope An jiajie rest Zhu Ting more because her wrist is injured. I do understand the pressure being a new NT coach and being play at home to satisfy the home crowd. But for the long run, Zhu Ting can make a lot of history if she is being well taken care of.

    The 47.7 seconds 5th set rally at 12-11 JPN-BRA last night was a doozy. It made Kumi Nakada :D I wish I could post it here somehow

    I looked through the stats to see what the attendances has been.


    Puerto Rico vs Bulgaria - 8`700
    Puerto Rico vs Czech Rep. - 8`500


    Turkey vs Brazil - 7`000


    Puerto Rico vs Canada - 6`800
    Peru vs Czech Rep. - 6`000


    Peru vs Colombia - 5`500
    Netherlands vs Japan - 5`500
    Netherlands vs Thailand - 5`500
    Argentina vs Croatia - 5`000
    Argentina vs Poland - 5`000
    Peru vs Puerto Rico - 5`000
    China vs USA - 5`315


    China vs Russia - 4`565
    Canada vs Argentina - 4`500
    Netherlands vs DOM - 4`300
    China vs USA - 4`090


    Attendance in the 2 Division has been great, Puerto Rico fans are the best so far, Peru, Netherlands and Argentina comes right after. Attendance in Japan and Russia were quite disappointing this year.
    Mexico and Cameroon in Division 3 had better attendance than Poland and Bulgaria.
    Cameroon vs Algeria 3`000 and Venezuela vs Algeria 2`000, these numbers are pretty good for Division 3.


    I think we should see big crowds in Brazil, Thailand, China and South Korea this weekend.