What changes for Italy in women’s volleyball before the Olympics: defeats of Serbia and China and new scenarios for the ranking

The qualifying tournaments for the Paris 2024 Olympics offer various surprises Some hierarchies in women’s international volleyball have collapsed, especially in… Baraka A Currently taking place in Ningbo (China). Tonight Serbia lost 3-1 to the Dominican Republic (He lost in his debut, 3-2, to the low-ranked Czech Republic), yesterday China was defeated in a tiebreaker by Canada (Which on his debut always beat the Netherlands in the decider) Today, they lost to the Netherlands 3-2 after leading 2-1 and 22-15.

The arrangement of that group is actually very fluid After the first five days: Serbia, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic lead with 4 wins (12 points), followed by China (3 wins and 11 points) and Canada (3 wins and 8 points). These matches will be held over the weekend: Serbia-Netherlands, China-Dominican Republic, Canada-Mexico on Saturday; Sunday Serbia-China, Netherlands-Dominican Republic, Canada-Czech Republic.

Only the top two teams will qualify for the Olympic Games. Other teams will instead have to adhere to the FIVB classification., which will determine at the end of the preliminary stage of the 2024 Nations League the last five teams that will be accepted into the next five round series. However, it must be taken into account that the places will be reduced to four, because it will be necessary to take into account the commitment of continental representation: in fact Kenya, currently twenty, is already certain of its presence in Paris in the Africa quota.

Could the fate of Group A also affect Italy’s future? Our national team will not be affected by the events in Ningbo if it can pass its pre-Olympic competitions currently being held in Lodz (Poland): the Italians lead the group, tonight (8.45 pm) they will qualify. They will face the American battleship and will then be called up for this weekend’s doubleheader against Germany and Poland. If the girls are from CT Davide Mazzanti will not qualify during this tournament, so we will have to stick to the standings.

In this particular case we need to monitor the results of Group A. At the moment, Italy is ranked fourth behind Turkey, the United States and Serbia and ahead of Brazil, China, Japan, Poland, the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands (even during the pre-Olympic period, points are awarded for international rankings). Italy will be in a better position if the teams above them in the rankings qualify for the Games through these tournamentsso you can play for the four available positions through the FIVB classification with those who have to chase.

It would be desirable for Serbia to complete its mission in Ningbo and for Turkey to also complete its training in the group that also includes Brazil and Japan (today Anatolia beat the Green and Gold 3-0). Neither the Dutch nor the Dominican party during the pre-Olympic period would be very happy. Currently, when the various calculations are made between the pre-Olympic stage and the current classification, the first to be excluded will be Canada, which occupies 11th place in the ranking, 34 points behind the Netherlands and 91 points behind Italy. Germany, which is looking for this achievement in Lodz, ranks 12th, 115 points behind the Italians.

FIVB Women’s Classification*

1. Türkiye 393.38
2. US 360.98
3. Serbia 353.25
4. Italy 349.05
5. Brazil 347.61
6. China 335.94
7. Japan 330.00
8. Poland 309.94
9. Dominican Republic 296.99
10. Netherlands 291.12
11. Canada 257.38
12. Germany 233.86
13. Thailand 209.71
14. Belgium 203.67
15. France 184.99
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20. Kenya 162.42

*Updated at 2.00pm on Friday 22 September 2023 The Netherlands-China 3-2 has not yet been counted.

Photo: FIVB