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MONTREUX, Switzerland, May 25, 2015 - For its thirtieth edition,
which will take place between Tuesday 26 May and Sunday 31 May
2015 at the Pierrier Multi-Sport Hall in Clarens/Montreux, the
Montreux Volley Masters is once again welcoming eight of the
best women's teams on the planet, including three (China, Japan
and Italy) that are ranked among the top five in the world.
As the surprise winners of the 2014 tournament, Germany (9th in
the world) will be defending their title this May in Montreux.
The Dominican Republic (6th), Turkey (ranked 11th and making
only their second visit to the Riviera), and the Netherlands,
one of Europe's strongest teams, will be completing the line-up.
China, who will be represented this year by their under-23 team,
are the reigning world champions in their category and one of
the favourites to win the competition, with many of their
players in Montreux expected to join the senior team in
preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. A similar prediction can
be made for the players representing Japan, who are fourth in
the world rankings, Italy, who finished fourth in the world
championships last autumn in Milan, and Russia, the 2010 world
champions.
For the qualifying round, the teams will be split into two
groups, with Group A consisting of China, the Dominican
Republic, Russia and the Netherlands and Group B consisting of
Japan, Italy, Germany and Turkey.
Three matches will be played per day at 4.30 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and
9 p.m between Tuesday and Friday.
The most eagerly anticipated clashes of this preliminary stage
include China vs. the Dominican Republic and Italy vs. Germany
on Tuesday 26 May; Turkey vs. Germany and the Dominican Republic
vs. Russia on Wednesday; the Netherlands vs. Russia and Italy
vs. Turkey on Thursday; and Japan vs. Italy and Russia vs. China
on Friday.
Saturday will be devoted to the cross-over semi-finals (played
at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m) while the finals will
take place on Sunday at 1.30 p.m. (3rd place) and 4 p.m. (1st
place). |
