February 1st, 2013

The puzzle is complete!

Algeria takes the last available spot and an African country will compete in the Grand Prix for the very first time!

Teams:

Schedule & Host Cities:

Excited?

December 2nd, 2012:

Set aside the rumors and the questionable qualification format because the FIVB has finally decided and revealed the ACCURATE details for next year’s World Grand Prix.

We’re just sad because Kim Yeon Koung and Korea are NOT competing and also the United States FAILED to host even just one round despite being the defending champions.

On the other hand, we’re happy to see Russia back in the Grand Prix and also an African team will be represented for the very first time.

With 20 TEAMS, it’s going to be another exciting event with Japan hosting the Final Round!

FIVB Press Release:

“The premier annual FIVB women’s volleyball event – the World Grand Prix – will expand to 20 teams for the first time in 2013 following a decision by the World Grand Prix Council at its annual meeting at the FIVB head office in Lausanne, Switzerland on Sunday to add four new teams.

The move follows the same decision by the World League Council on Saturday to increase the annual men’s tournament from 16 to 18 teams.

The World Grand Prix Council, chaired by FIVB executive vice-president in charge of volleyball events Aleksandar Boricic, decided to add World Cup winners Italy (WR4), world champions Russia (WR6), 2012 World Grand Prix bronze medallists Turkey (WR7) and Germany (WR10) to the 16 teams already qualified to ensure all of the world’s top 10 world ranked nations will participate.

The World Grand Prix Finals will return to Japan for the first time since 2009 and take place in Sapporo from August 28 to September 1. Japan has hosted the World Grand Prix Finals four times in the past with Sapporo being a fifth host city after Tokyo in 2009, Yokohama in 2008, Sendai in 2005 and Kobe in 1997.

The tournament will run in accordance with previous years in terms of having round-robin tournaments and two matches per day. A more detailed match schedule will be released in the near future.

Following the Preliminary Round, the organisers and the next best five teams will qualify for the Finals.

The World Grand Prix featured eight teams in its debut season of 1993 and from 1995 to 2002, while 12 teams were in action in 1994 and from 2003 to 2010. Sixteen teams have been involved in the 2011 and 2012 editions.

The FIVB Commission and Council meetings continue in Lausanne on Monday and Tuesday with the Sports Events Council.”

Thoughts?

Thoughts?

Thoughts?

October 17th, 2012:

Now we know what happened!

A very RELIABLE source has EXCLUSIVELY informed us on why Russia, Italy, Germany and Turkey have lost its chances to qualify and compete at the 2013 FIVB Grand Prix.

Source says:

“The teams that qualify for Grand Prix has to be choosen from CEV. The rule this season was:

*The winner and runner up of the 2012 European League. In this case, the 2 spots went to Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

*Russia, Italy and Germany did not compete at the European League because of the Olympic qualification tournaments while Serbia and Turkey sent their junior teams.

*Poland is the wild card winner and they get automatic Grand Prix qualification in the next 4 years.

The other 2 teams to represent Europe together with Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Poland will be determined at the European Grand Prix Qualification tournament which was scheduled at the end of last month. Teams set to compete were Russia, Netherlands, Serbia, Italia, Germany and Turkey.

The big problem was that none of these teams wanted to host the tournament. Actually, Turkey wanted to do it first but had a change of heart. CEV was very mad at Turkey’s withdrawal. Also, CEV is always in a “little fight” with the FIVB so the European Federation took a provocative step of qualifying the top 4 teams from the European League.

The sad part is that Russia, Germany, Turkey and Italy were not given any chance at all to qualify as much as these teams wanted to compete at the prestigious annual tournament.

CEV could’ve qualified the top 2 teams from the latest FIVB world rankings or from last year’s European Championship and not all the teams from the European League.

Just not fair!”

Thoughts?

September 16th, 2012:

Next year’s Grand Prix will NOT feature 2006 and 2010 World Champions Russia, 2012 Grand Prix bronze medalist Turkey, European powerhouse Italy, and Germany. What is going on CEV and FIVB? How come no one wanted to host and organize the qualification tournament in Europe just like in previous years.

This is SAD but at the same time we can’t wait to watch what these European teams can offer to the rest of the world as 2 of them make their Grand Prix debut, ie Bulgaria and Czech Republic.

On the other hand, only 1 more spot left to be determined at a future qualification tournament and it would be from the African zone but for now…

Volleyball Fans from around the world, (whether you like it or not) the following teams will compete at the 2013 FIVB World Grand Prix:

Automatically Qualified:

Brazil
China
Japan
Poland

Qualified via the 2012 European League:

Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Serbia
The Netherlands

2012 Pan-American Cup

South America:
Argentina

Norceca:
United States
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico

2012 Asian Cup:

Thailand
Kazakhstan

(Korea lost to Vietnam in the Quarterfinal Round therefore they have failed to qualify for the 2013 Grand Prix. Kim Yeon Koung did not compete with Korea at the Asian Cup due to club team duties with Fenerbahce.)

2012 African Qualification: 1 team (TBD)

July 24th UPDATE:

The tournament is just a year away yet it’s already facing hurdles.

Take note, CEV & the FIVB have NOT confirmed this report. For now, it remains as a Fresh News from the Rumor Market.

Since no European country wants to host the 2013 Grand Prix Qualification, rumor has it that the European Federation has directly qualified The Netherlands and Serbia, the 3rd and 4th placed teams from this year’s European League.

The bad news? Some of the world’s best teams like Germany, Turkey, Italy and Russia will not participate.

If this is the case, Poland (wild card), Czech Republic (2013 European League Champion) & Bulgaria (2013 European League runner up) together with the 2 aforementioned countries will represent Europe at the 2013 edition of the annual tournament.

It’s going to be an interesting tournament knowing it’s the year after the Olympics but we’re a bit shocked knowing that top teams have already lost their chance to qualify.

Can we get a “SAD” button please?

THOUGHTS?

July 20th:

Excited already?

Well, we are! We are! We are!

We know it’s more than a year away but we just want to keep you posted on the teams that have qualified so far and the upcoming Grand Prix Qualification tourneys.

After winning the European League, Helena Havelkova (Facundo Conte’s girlfriend) and Team Czech Republic will make their Grand Prix debut next year together with another debutante Bulgaria, the 2012 European League runner-up. Czech Rep and Bulgaria will be joined by Poland (wild card winner) and 2 more Europeans teams to be determined later this year at the qualification tournament.

The American continent will be represented by the following teams USA, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico for NORCECA while the South American continent has Brazil and Argentina. These teams qualified after winning top spots at the ongoing Pan-American Cup.

According to the FIVB, Africa will send its first team (Kenya or Algeria for sure!) to join the mix and compete in the most elite annual volleyball competition.

Finally, China and Japan have automatically qualified while Korea, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan are the top contenders to fight for the 2 remaining slots.

Host cities will be determined.

For the 3rd consecutive year, a total of 16 teams will again entertain volleyball fans from all over the world.

2013 World Grand Prix Summary:

Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland + 2 more
NORCECA: USA, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
South America: Brazil, Argentina
Asia: China, Japan + 2 more
Africa: 1 vacancy

On the other hand, the only we wish we have right now is that hopefully USA will get to host at least one round. Pleassseeeeee USAV! Make our wish come true!

(source & images: FIVB)