We had a feeling she would return and that her “retirement” from less than a year ago was only temporary!
It has been officially announced that one Europe’s best middle blockers Christiane Fürst has decided to return to the National Team for the upcoming European Olympic Qualification Tournament next month.
Newly appointed head coach Felix Koslowski has revealed his preliminary roster which also includes former star middle blocker Corina Ssuschke-Voigt who went on a maternity leave.
Roster:
Setters:
Mareen Apitz
Kathleen Weiß
Outside Hitters:
Maren Brinker
Heike Beier
Jennifer Geerties
Lisa Izquierdo
Jana-Franziska Poll
Middle Blockers:
Christiane Fürst
Corina Ssuschke-Voigt
Anja Brandt
Wiebke Silge
Jennifer Pettke
Opposite Hitters:
Margareta Kozuch
Louisa Lippmann
Liberos:
Lenka Dürr
Lisa Thomsen
Take note, only 14 players will make it to the final roster.
8 National Federations will compete in the 2016 European Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The teams qualified is the team of the appointed organiser, plus the highest seven National Federations according to the latest CEV European Ranking. Excluding Serbia, who are already qualified to the Olympic Games following their result at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Cup.
Official Competition Hashtags are: #Rio2016 #RoadToRio
The 8 teams will be split into two pools of 4 teams who play each other in a single round robin. The pools have been formed with the organising Federation in position A1, and then using the serpentine system following the latest CEV European Ranking.
The 1st placed team from each pool will play the 2nd placed team from the opposite pool in the semi-finals. The winners of the semi finals will play off in the Final, while the losers will play in the 3rd/4th deciding match.
The winning team will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the 2nd / 3rd will qualify to the FIVB World Olympic Qualification Tournaments in May/June 2016.
(images: FIVB/ cev.lu)