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TOKYO , October 30, 2006 – The 2006 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World
Championship starts on 31st October 2006 with six teams from NORCECA
Confederation among the 24 qualified teams to compete for the
prestigious title of World Champion.
Cuba , USA and Dominican Republic are ranked fifth, sixth and tenth
respectively in FIVB World Rankings, while Puerto Rico is in the
twelfth position, Mexico is in twenty- eight place and Costa Rica is
33.
Dominicans and Mexico are in Pool B in Sapporo , considered “The
Group of Death” and will need to overcome the opposition of Germany
and Azerbaijan besides the powerhouses of China and Russia .
The Dominicans meet Germany on Tuesday at 2:00 , while Mexico meets
Russia at 4:00 . In Pool A, Costa Rica meets Korea in Tokyo at 12:00
, while in Pool C at Kobe Puerto Rico plays against Brazil and USA
compete against Kazakhstan at 2:00 and 6:00 respectively. In Pool D
in Nagoya , Cuba plays Turkey starting at 4:00 .
Reigning World Champions Italy will be looking to defend the title
they won in Germany in 2002 with new head coach Massimo Barbolini,
who has only been in the job since 21st September this year. The
girls from Brazil , however, are the strong favorite, having
followed their Grand Champions Cup victory here in Japan this time
last year with a fourth consecutive World Grand Prix title in Reggio
Calabria in September. Although the Brazilian women’s team has
numerous international victories to their name, they are still
looking for a World Championship trophy to complete the collection
in their cabinet.
Cuba finished fifth at the 2002 World Championship and fourth in
this year’s World Grand Prix. With three gold medals under their
belt, the Cuban women are a strong contender and benefit from the
unrivalled experience of Eugenio George Lafitta, who has been
coaching the Cuban women’s team for 30 years and was named Coach of
the Century in the FIVB’s millennium survey in the year 2000.
The Dominicans are fresh from their victory at the Central American
and Caribbean Games in Colombia where they took the gold medal
defeating Cuba in straight sets.
Costa Rica , winner of 10 of 14 Central American Cups, including
eight in a row since 1993, is among the newcomers along with
Cameroon and Kazakhstan .
Mexico , now under the coaching of Cuban Orlando Samuels, comes to
the tournament plenty of illusions but with the realistic goal of
showing the improve attained during the past few months. |
