Posts by Batabid

    No no, only Dürr ^^ I added the "(ex)" just because of her!

    Thanks for clarifying! For a second there, I thought they had already retired. :D That would be a shock since they are so young and would be a waste of talent for German NT.

    Starting 7 are 4 (ex) German NT players Dürr, Geerties, Stigrot, Weitzel; 2 American talents Gray and Gates plus Swiss OPP Storck. No outstanding names but all good quality players and they work out well as team.

    Geerties, Stigrot, and Weitzel are already ex-NT players? :huh:

    Kosheleva: After Parubets' injury, she has realistic chances to be part of the team or even a starter, specially with how she's currently playing in Galatasaray. I have almost written her off so her performance in Turkey is a pleasant surprise. Of course, it won't change things much for Russia but her current form is still better than Shcherban and Kurilo.

    Voronkova: I don't know what's going on with her, but her attacking has dropped in the past few years but on a positive note, she has improved in reception so she and Fedorovtseva are ideal as starting as OHs.

    Fedorovtseva: Like how many of us has already pointed out a number of times, she's a very promising player and currently performing well in Russian League but we'll have to see how she'll do under more intense pressure at the Olympics. OH options for Russia are very limited at the moment, so regardless if she's inexperienced or not, she's the best choice since the other OHs won't do better than her. Like I said before, Russia has very low chances to earn a medal or even make it to QF so I guess it's best to give Arina playing time to prepare her well for Paris. This, of course, depends largely if Busato will call her in NT. I also got a feeling that a lot of Russia NT followers project a lot of hope and expectation on her. The past 4 years has been the least successful for Russia so I can imagine fans are searching for success and they see a shining beacon of hope in Fedorovtseva. Hope she handles the pressure well

    Goncharova: Struggling lately but the starting OPP position is hers, regardless. Hope she can improve her form in Tokyo. It'll most probably be her last hurrah before she finally retires from NT so I hope she can give her best performance ever.

    Lazareva: I've watched a number of her games in Korean League. She's powerful but can be quite inconsistent. At this point, she's good as backupp OPP or backup OH. She'll add more firepower to Russia.

    Parubets: It's sad how she's been robbed twice of the chance to participate in the olympics. Being excluded at Rio was understandable but this time, it's harder because she has definitely earned her spot.

    All in all, Russia is a big question mark. A dark horse at best. I hope Busato can work some magic on the players. I can see he has a positive effect on the girls under his guidance.

    I think Italy has big chances to earn a medal (finally!) at the olympics next year and getting a gold doesn't sound too far fetched. Specially if Malinov will drastically improve her sets to the Middles. She's been the weakest link in this possibly the strongest Italian lineup ever.

    OPP:
    Boskovic - She has been an important factor for Serbia's huge success in the past years. Serbia is lucky they have someone like her who showed amazing performance at such a very young age. She'll continue to be huge for many more years


    Goncharova - Showed her peak performance in 2015 particularly in WGP and she was the best OPP at that time. Although her reign was short, she continued to be among the top 5 Opposites from 2011-2020.


    Egonu - An absolute beast and a killer. What I really admire most from her is how she manages to score at clutch moments. (The Vakif-Conegliano semifinal from last year was a testament to this). Although she's miles ahead of Goncha right now, I'd still put Egonu behind her for now because she just started to explode into the scene just two years ago. She and Boskovic will battle it out on the next decade for the Best Opp title and could possibly be even better than Bosko.

    Special mention:
    Sheilla - Her play at 2012 OG quarterfinals against Russia was her most remarkable moment for me. Brazil would be so different without her.
    Gamova - Although this decade sees her decline, her outstanding performance in 2014 at Champions League and Club World Championships shows that she still has it at that time.

    OH:
    KYK - The player who has it all! Great at spiking, scoring, receiving, defending, and serving! It's a pity she never won an olympic medal. I'm afraid we won't see a player like her in the years to come.

    Zhu - Although widely hailed as currently the best player in world and the main reason for China's dominance in the past years, I'd put her behind KYK mainly because she's a limited player compared to Kim who excels at a wide range of skills.

    Runners-up:
    Kosheleva, Larson, Saori

    MB:
    Rasic & Thaisa

    Runners-up: Fabiana, Poljak, Eda, Furst

    Setter:
    Ognjenovic - Thanks to her, I got to appreciate how important a good setter is in a team. It's such a pleasure watching her movements on court.
    Alisha Glass
    Wolosz

    Libero:
    de Gennaro
    Castillo
    Fabi

    I have one question, how is it possible that youtube won't cover ANY of the 3 matches by the most famous and strongest team in group D? That cannot possibly be a coincidence, surely?

    Isn't the Conegliano vs Fenerbache match going to be streamed live later today?