Facts you should know about the Club World Champs

There are still two major events left in the 2023 international volleyball calendar and they will both take place in Asia in December – the Men’s and Women’s Club World Championships.

The men will play first, in Bengaluru, India, from December 6-10, while the women will get on the court one week later, from 13-17, in Hangzhou, China. Both events will be streamed live for VBTV subscribers around the world.

• Watch the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Club World Championships live on VBTV

Club teams from seven different countries and some of the best players in the world will be in action and as you start getting ready to follow them, here are a few bites of information that will help you build your knowledge ahead of the tournaments.

Did you know that…

Sir Sicoma Perugia will try to become just the third team to successfully defend their Men’s Club World Championship title, joining fellow Italians Itas Trentino (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) and Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro Vôlei (2015, 2016). The Italian giants have star setter Simone Giannelli and Polish national team outside hitters Wilfredo Leon and Kamil Semeniuk as some of their main stars this season.

Did you know that…

Reigning Brazilian champions Dentil Praia Clube underwent somewhat of a revamp ahead of the Women’s Club World Championship. The team lost the Dominican sisters Brayelin and Jineiry Martinez, Olympic medalist middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva and Dutch star Anne Buijs, but signed European outside hitters Dobriana Rabadzhieva and Sofya Kuznetsova, Olympic champion middle blocker Adenízia Ferreira and Brazilian national team libero Natália ‘Natinha’ Araújo.

Did you know that…

The Suntory Sunbirds will be the first Japanese team to compete at the Men’s Club World Championship. Pushed by a core formed by national team players, such as middle blocker Taishi Onodera, setter Masaki Oya and outside hitter Kenya Fujinaka, the team will try to compete for a medal in India.

Did you know that…

Four-time women’s world champions VakifBank Spor Kulubu of Türkiye have players from six different countries on their roster this season. The list includes Brazil (Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães), the Netherlands (Sarah Van Aalen), Romania (Alexia Căruțașu), Serbia (Bianka Buša), the United States (Jordan Thompson, Alexandra Frantti, Chiaka Ogbogu) and Türkiye (Zehra Güneş and Cansu Özbay, among others).

Did you know that…

One of the newest revelations of Brazilian men’s volleyball, Itambé Minas’ Arthur Bento lived in Canada for ten years, from when he was five to 15. The son of former Brazilian beach volleyball player Adriana Bento, the 19-year-old outside hitter was part of Brazil’s roster during the 2023 Volleyball Nations League and also played in the U21 World Championship this year.

Did you know that…

The winners of this year’s Women’s Asian Club Championship, Sport Center I Women’s Club have nine of the 14 players that represented Vietnam at this year’s FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup. Among them is national team captain and outside hitter Tran Thi Thanh Thu, who already played for club teams in Thailand and Japan.

Did you know that…

Since they made their Men’s Club World Championship debut, in 2012, Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro Vôlei have never missed an edition of the tournament. This season, Sada, who have Brazilian Olympic champions Lucas Saatkamp and Wallace de Souza in their squad, will appear in the event for an 11th straight time – they won eight medals (four golds, two silver, two bronze).

Did you know that…

Türkiye’s Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul made it to the podium in five of their six Women’s Club World Championship appearances, taking gold in 2015 and 2016, silver in 2019 and bronze in 2018 and 2022 – they were fourth in 2017. With players like Serbian world champions Tijana Bošković and Jovana Stevanović and Turkish stars Naz Aydemir Akyol and Hande Baladin, Eczacibasi seem poised for another top-three finish this season.

Did you know that…

Bengaluru will be the first Indian city to host the Men’s Club World Championship and the first location in Asia to do it since 2012. Because of that, India will be represented in the tournament for the first time and the team selected to do it was the Ahmedabad Defenders, who won the country’s 2023 RuPay Prime Volleyball League.

Did you know that…

Turkish superstar Melissa Vargas will make her second appearance at the Women’s Club World Championship in 2023 after taking silver with Switzerland’s Volero Zurich in 2017. Now with hosts Tianjin Bohai Bank, the opposite will have Chinese national team stars Yingying Li and Xinyue Yuan among her teammates in the event.

Did you know that…

Making their Men’s Club World Championship debut, Türkiye’s Halkbank Spor Kulübü will have two of the biggest stars of the event in Tokyo Olympics MVP outside hitter Earvin Ngapeth of France and Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz, the top scorer of the 2021 and 2022 Volleyball Nations League.

Did you know that…

Trying to secure their third medal in the Women’s Club World Championship, Brazil’s Gerdau Minas have several players who featured for the Brazilian national team over the last few years. The list includes Olympic medalist middle blockers Thaisa Daher and Carol Gattaz, opposite Kisy Nascimento, outside hitter Pri Daroit, middle blocker Julia Kudiess and libero Nyeme Costa.

Now tell the truth, if that was a test, would you have passed it?

Quick links:
2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship
2023 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship
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