IT
Freshman
Posts: 66
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Post by IT on Jan 12, 2004 12:33:44 GMT -5
FIVB announced the field for the Final Olympic Qualifier in Tokyo. Puerto Rico will join Russia, Italy, Argentina, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Chinese Taipei to compete for one of the four remaining spots for Athens. Given the field, it seems almost automatic that Russia, Italy, Japan, and Korea will gain those spots but I am rooting for Puerto Rico.
Surprise that Netherlands did not get in the tourney.
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Post by sIsam on Jan 12, 2004 15:41:35 GMT -5
no surprise. they strictly went by rankings and ita and rus are the highest ranked non-qualifying teams in europe. if rus or ita had won the tourney in baku then ned would have gone...
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IT
Freshman
Posts: 66
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Post by IT on Jan 12, 2004 16:21:56 GMT -5
My surprise is that another Norceca team got chosen. There are already three going from Norceca (US, Cuba, and DR) if in the event PR qualifies, that would be 4 Norceca teams in Athens. However that is unlikely....prove me wrong Aury!!
I also looked at who they chose last time with 3 European teams in the final qualifier.
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Post by sIsam on Jan 13, 2004 12:00:29 GMT -5
My surprise is that another Norceca team got chosen. There are already three going from Norceca (US, Cuba, and DR) if in the event PR qualifies, that would be 4 Norceca teams in Athens. However that is unlikely....prove me wrong Aury!! I also looked at who they chose last time with 3 European teams in the final qualifier. For some reason the FIVB likes the Norceca region. The gave Dom Rep chance after chance to qualify, despite one of their player having tested positive at the World Cup. It really irks me that such teams end up at the tournament at the expense of teams like POL, TUR.... |
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Post by Nutter on Jan 15, 2004 5:24:32 GMT -5
Sorry have been out of the loop.
How many Women's VB teams will there be in the Olympic Games?
Who's qualified so far other than the top 3 at the WC in Japan (China, Brazil and the US)? I also read that Germany's qualified, so that's 4 that I know of.
ThanksQ!
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Post by sIsam on Jan 15, 2004 6:02:06 GMT -5
Sorry have been out of the loop. How many Women's VB teams will there be in the Olympic Games? Who's qualified so far other than the top 3 at the WC in Japan (China, Brazil and the US)? I also read that Germany's qualified, so that's 4 that I know of. ThanksQ! Total of 12 go. Host team - Greece WC - China Brazil US Euro - Germany Norceca - Cuba South Am. - Dom Rep Africa - Kenya Four more spots to be determined at the tournament in Japan in May.... |
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IT
Freshman
Posts: 66
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Post by IT on Jan 15, 2004 8:49:01 GMT -5
For some reason the FIVB likes the Norceca region. The gave Dom Rep chance after chance to qualify, despite one of their player having tested positive at the World Cup. It really irks me that such teams end up at the tournament at the expense of teams like POL, TUR.... Not surprised actually, the current Norceca president is from the Dominican Republic, and almost every Norceca or qualification event has taken place there the last few years. It pays to smooze to FIVB. They were a team on the rise but has stalled since their Pan Am games win and other than beating Poland in the World Cup never put forth a worthy challenge against any other team including their Cuban rivals. Partly due to them not having Nuris Done, who was a major offensive player for them until she tested positive. |
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Post by sIsam on Jan 15, 2004 13:07:31 GMT -5
Not surprised actually, the current Norceca president is from the Dominican Republic, and almost every Norceca or qualification event has taken place there the last few years. It pays to smooze to FIVB. They were a team on the rise but has stalled since their Pan Am games win and other than beating Poland in the World Cup never put forth a worthy challenge against any other team including their Cuban rivals. Partly due to them not having Nuris Done, who was a major offensive player for them until she tested positive. That somewhat explains things... It's just so frustrating that they get so many second chances and teams over here get none... |
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Post by USAFAN on Jan 15, 2004 13:11:59 GMT -5
What other second chances have they gotten besides this one?
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IT
Freshman
Posts: 66
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Post by IT on Jan 15, 2004 14:56:48 GMT -5
They had three chances to qualify:
1) World Cup
2) Norceca
3) South America
Whereas as most teams only got two (World Cup if they qualify and their Continental Qualification) and depending on their world ranking at the time could be invited to the final qualifier in Japan. If DR did not qualify from the South America qualifier they would have likely been invited to Tokyo.
In trying to undertand FIVB mentality it seems that they limited European participation in the final qualifier to just two teams because with Greece and Germany in and Italy and Russia almost guaranteed to qualify that would already be 4 European teams in Athens.
I understand FIVB wanting more representation from various continents but I still want to see the best teams in the ultimate competition. Thats why the World Championships is probably the greatest competition with more participation of the best teams.
FIVB had done some crazy stuff in the past though like that whole sending Russia to the African qualifier situation in 1996. So although they want to have diverse representation, FIVB will try to still protect favored teams to make sure they qualify.
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Post by sIsam on Jan 15, 2004 15:28:14 GMT -5
In trying to undertand FIVB mentality it seems that they limited European participation in the final qualifier to just two teams because with Greece and Germany in and Italy and Russia almost guaranteed to qualify that would already be 4 European teams in Athens. I understand FIVB wanting more representation from various continents but I still want to see the best teams in the ultimate competition. Thats why the World Championships is probably the greatest competition with more participation of the best teams. FIVB had done some crazy stuff in the past though like that whole sending Russia to the African qualifier situation in 1996. So although they want to have diverse representation, FIVB will try to still protect favored teams to make sure they qualify. FIVB certainly favors certain teams. I'd say partly because of economics of the whole business and because of tradition to an extent. I thought RUS should have gone to WC as the wildcard instead of ITA at the time. As for the tourney in Japan, one can justify Italy's presence there considering they are current World Champions (though their performance of recent is very suspect). However Russia's performance has been very subpar and there are a few teams better than they are in Europe. One can easily debate that POL or TUR should have been considered for the other spot from Europe.... |
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Post by sIsam on Jan 15, 2004 15:30:23 GMT -5
They had three chances to qualify: 1) World Cup Please not that Dominican Replublic got one of the two wildcards (along with Italy) for the World Cup... |
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Post by USAFAN on Jan 15, 2004 15:39:51 GMT -5
Yes Turkey and Poland have turned things on this year, but keep in mind that the rankings and qualifying is based on each quadrennial. Turkey and Poland have NOT won any tournaments in the quadrennial, and Russia has. Yes Russia may be struggling right now, but I don't think its debatable that Italy and Russia are in and Poland and Turkey are out. Italy and Russia have won on the big stage.
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IT
Freshman
Posts: 66
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Post by IT on Jan 15, 2004 15:46:43 GMT -5
Yes that is true, its not like DR earned the right to the World Cup outright by finishing in the top two of the Norceca championships.
I was also suprised that Italy got chosen for the WC wildcard since they did so poorly and they continue to struggle. Russia at the time was the number 1 team so I expected them to get chosen.
FIVB should probably have the final women's qualifiers similar to the Men's. Three different locations, highest non qualified teams get selected and their pools is random pick. Its probably more complicated than that but I think thats the essence of how they conduct it.
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Post by sIsam on Jan 15, 2004 15:48:49 GMT -5
Yes Turkey and Poland have turned things on this year, but keep in mind that the rankings and qualifying is based on each quadrennial. Turkey and Poland have NOT won any tournaments in the quadrennial, and Russia has. Yes Russia may be struggling right now, but I don't think its debatable that Italy and Russia are in and Poland and Turkey are out. Italy and Russia have won on the big stage. I'm quite familiar with the ranking process and the qualifying. It's just that when I watch the Olympics I want to see the best teams out there and IMO it does not look likely to happen this time around. Noone can debate that looking at the past 4 years (or even more), Russia and Italy are eons better than POL and TUR but currently those two are the better teams. As these teams are improving, RUS and ITA have been struggling. Since the process is over for 2004, we will be hoping for a different outcome for the 2008 Olympics... |
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