World Grand Prix 2007 - Results

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thanks nastja,

the first day of the gp, russia and brazil play very well
i have to say, remarkably well, congrats

im so excited that Aguero already playing for italy

It is rather unfair that Poland play against very strong teams while other Pools have much weaker teams like Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei. The Pools should be more balanced, so that all teams would have equal chances to qualify for the Final Round.

What amazed me in the match against Netherlands was how easily Brazil won the second set. Brazil was leading 15-2 and then 21-6.

This result was really amazing, especially the 3rd set. But I guess this is a characteristic of the Russian Team, they have ups and downs. By the end of the competition they will be more regular.

I wonder what would happen if the US Team were playing this WGP with all its players like Stacy Sykora, Logan Tom, Nancy Metcalf and Heather Bown. They would definitely be one of the favourites to win the title.

It's pretty hard to say what can happen in the match between Poland and Russia. Poland seems to be keeping the same pace, while Russia is showing ups and downs.

If the Russian Team plays like they did against China, they will be favourites to beat Poland. On the other hand, if they play like they did against the US Team, then Poland can win the match in straight sets.

I dare to say that this match will end up in the 5th set, but I wouldn't be able to tell who would be the winner. It would be nice if Poland beat Russia, cause the Polish girls would be more confident in the next weeks of the Grand Prix.

Quote from "Celso"

It is rather unfair that Poland play against very strong teams while other Pools have much weaker teams like Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei. The Pools should be more balanced, so that all teams would have equal chances to qualify for the Final Round.

thats something difficult to manage though
didnt you guys realise brazil always face netherland
and never brazil meets cuba in gp?

and japan and china never meeets until final maybe

so, i think thats why the pools are not well balanced

as for russia, they lost to usa cos they used subs almost throughout :wink2:

Brazil's opponents in the preliminary round are the weakest so far!

After the three weeks, there's no need to be a fortune-teller to predict that Brazil's Team will reach to the finals with at least a 7-2 win-loss record. The only team who can cause trouble to Brazil is Italy and even so they don't have their full force.

Any team who were on Brazil's pools would be strong candidates to advance to the final round.

On the other hand... Brazil won't be able to play against China, Russia, Cuba and USA before the finals, which means the other teams will be more prepared for tough games in the final round while Brazil will only face the good teams in the final round. In a round-robyn system, playing for the first time against good teams can be very dangerous.

The more I reflect about this issue, the more I'm convinced that the World Grand Prix should have the same format as the World League, and the pools should take the FIVB ranking into consideration.

Quote from "Celso"

Brazil's opponents in the preliminary round are the weakest so far!

After the three weeks, there's no need to be a fortune-teller to predict that Brazil's Team will reach to the finals with at least a 7-2 win-loss record. The only team who can cause trouble to Brazil is Italy and even so they don't have their full force.

Any team who were on Brazil's pools would be strong candidates to advance to the final round.

On the other hand... Brazil won't be able to play against China, Russia, Cuba and USA before the finals, which means the other teams will be more prepared for tough games in the final round while Brazil will only face the good teams in the final round. In a round-robyn system, playing for the first time against good teams can be very dangerous.

The more I reflect about this issue, the more I'm convinced that the World Grand Prix should have the same format as the World League, and the pools should take the FIVB ranking into consideration.

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I agree with every word of what you said.
Also wanted to add that sometimes is so boring to watch easy matches. The first two against Netherlands and Taipei were so easy that looked like practice (no offense against the teams, but Brazilian is superior).

I didn't understand why Carol Albuquerque was given the yellow card when Brazil's Team came back to court after the first TTO in the 4th set.

For me, Brazil would have won the 4th set if Carol hadn't been given the yellow card. I'm convinced the referees made a mistake when they punished Carol. She didn't do anything. After that, Brazil took a while to come back to the game and even so, without the yellow card, the score would be 25-24 for Italy. Besides, when the 4th set was 5-3 for Brazil, Aguero was blocked and the referees gave the point to Italy cause they saw a touch in the net by the Brazilians, which didn't occur.

I also didn't understand why Zé Roberto decided to replace Thaísa in the middle of the match, especially because Brazil was leading the 3rd set 14-10 when he did that. After she was replaced, Carol Gattaz comitted too much mistakes and that's another reason why Brazil lost the 4th set.

Quote from "Celso"

I didn't understand why Carol Albuquerque was given the yellow card when Brazil's Team came back to court after the first TTO in the 4th set.

For me, Brazil would have won the 4th set if Carol hadn't been given the yellow card. I'm convinced the referees made a mistake when they punished Carol. She didn't do anything. After that, Brazil took a while to come back to the game and even so, without the yellow card, the score would be 25-24 for Italy. Besides, when the 4th set was 5-3 for Brazil, Aguero was blocked and the referees gave the point to Italy cause they saw a touch in the net by the Brazilians, which didn't occur.

I also didn't understand why Zé Roberto decided to replace Thaísa in the middle of the match, especially because Brazil was leading the 3rd set 14-10 when he did that. After she was replaced, Carol Gattaz comitted too much mistakes and that's another reason why Brazil lost the 4th set.

Honestly, I gave up trying to understand Zé Roberto and his choice to replace Thaísa. And I didn't understand the card either, but maybe it was to Zé Roberto, not Carolina. He loooooves to complain.
I think that the referees of the match made so many mistakes, but at least Brazil won at the end. I just imagine what would've happened if Brazil lost that match.
And honestly, I thought Carol Gattaz would do a better job, because she has more experience than Thaísa, but she's doing the same lousy games she did during the league.

I didn't understand why Zé Roberto replaced Thaísa by Carol Gattaz in the third set, cause the team was winning by a relatively large difference of points and she took a while to get used to the rhythm of the match. Because of that, Italy was put back in the game. I am not criticizing Carol Gattaz, but Zé Roberto's choice.

If Carol Gattaz played lousily, Thaísa played lousily also. I always criticize Carol's serves, but Thaísa serves sucked big time on yesterday's match. Her overall performance was below my expectations. Thaísa can play much better than she did and she'd better do it, otherwise Carol Gattaz will be among the starting six in the next matches.

Quote from "Celso"

I didn't understand why Zé Roberto replaced Thaísa by Carol Gattaz in the third set, cause the team was winning by a relatively large difference of points and she took a while to get used to the rhythm of the match. Because of that, Italy was put back in the game. I am not criticizing Carol Gattaz, but Zé Roberto's choice.

If Carol Gattaz played lousily, Thaísa played lousily also. I always criticize Carol's serves, but Thaísa serves sucked big time on yesterday's match. Her overall performance was below my expectations. Thaísa can play much better than she did and she'd better do it, otherwise Carol Gattaz will be among the starting six in the next matches.

Neither I was impressed with Thaísa's performance, she can do a lot better. But I must admit, I criticize both Zé Roberto decision and Carol's performance because I know she SHOULD do a lot better since she has a lot of experience, she was even line up in a lot of international matches -- and in important matches too. Ok, it was just the second match, all the team have a lot to improve yet. I also think the same about Érika/Sassá.

Sassá and Érika are definitely the weakest outside hitters of Brazil's Team. Sassá has a better reception and serve, while Érika is better in attacking and blocking. Both of them are short players. Érika has showed already that she's good in serving and receiving. If she improves, she'll grab the last spot for outside hitters in Brazil's NT. The other three are already reserved for Paula, Jaqueline and Natália. I'm pretty sure of that.

Who is Natalia?