Pools confirmed for Tokyo 2020 Volleyball Tournament
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, January 31, 2020 – The pool
composition for the men's and women’s volleyball tournaments
at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been confirmed. The 12
qualified teams per gender have been split into two single
round robin pools of six, with the top four in the standings
of each pool to advance to the quarterfinals.
The teams were assigned to pools in line with the serpentine
method, with hosts Japan placed in the first position in
Pool A and the remaining squads ordered by their positions
in the FIVB World Ranking.
In the women’s tournament, reigning world and European
champions and 2016 Olympic silver medallists Serbia,
two-time Olympic champions Brazil, as well as the teams
of Korea, Dominican Republic and Kenya will be in the
company of hosts Japan, two-time Olympic gold medallists themselves,
in Pool A.
Three-time Olympic champions China will start the defence of
their 2016 title in Pool B, where they will compete against
back-to-back VNL gold medallists USA, the most decorated
team in Olympic history – Russia, 2018 World Championship
runners-up Italy, as well as Argentina and Turkey.
The men’s national team of Japan, 1972 Olympic champions,
are also set to go up against the champions of the world in
Pool A of their tournament. In addition to 1976 gold
medallists Poland, the hosts will face 2016 Olympic silver
medallists Italy, as well as Canada, Iran and Venezuela.
In Pool B, three-time Olympic champs Brazil will defend
their Rio gold playing against three-time podium
toppers USA, four-time gold medallists and reigning VNL
champions Russia and the teams
of Argentina, France and Tunisia.
In the quarterfinals, each pool winner will meet the
fourth-placed team from the other pool, while a draw will
determine the opponents of the second-placed and the
third-placed teams which will be from the other pool as
well.