Serbia have won all its matches so far in Pool A. After a perfect start, the reigning world champions dropped their very first set in the competition against Czechia. The European squad are occupying the top spot in Ningbo and trailing them are hosts China.
Crunch time for top contenders at Olympic qualifier
The matches from Friday to Sunday will be tense and hectic as the pressure to perform at their best is on, and it’s all about sealing their places in the 2024 Olympics in Paris
Published 07:30, 20 Sept 2023
- Watch all the matches of the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament on VBTV
Similar to Serbia’s status, China’s first three matches were won in straight sets, until they faced Canada. The Asian side suffered their first loss in the tournament in five sets. China have identical records with the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic with 3-1.
In Pool B, Japan are the only team with a perfect record, not dropping any sets so far. They are closely trailed by Türkiye and Brazil, also with a 4-0 record, and are halfway through to validating punch their ticket to the Olympic Games.
Italy and the United States have won all their four matches. The former VNL winners are playing without their superstar, Paola Egonu. But their new star Ekaterina Antropova has filled that void that Egonu has left behind.
Meanwhile, Olympic champions USA are in second place and are looking to defend their Olympic gold medal. Leading the charge for the team is Jordan Thompson, who is the team’s top scorer.
The opposite shared that there is not one, but many ideas that come to mind to be able to reach the Paris Olympics and hopefully defend their title.
“There are a lot of things that come to mind, just fine-tuning things. It’s not necessarily one thing but just continuing to find that rhythm that goes from our serving, our block and defence, our offence and just becoming more in sync with each other,” USA opposite Jordan Thompson said.
