2014 FIVB Men’s World Championship Preview – Pool C

Last two’ll have to be clustered together a bit, as I procrastinated a little getting this one out. The good news is, by now rosters have been posted on the event’s official website (I’m kinda stunned it took so long, actually) so I won’t have to pull bios from sites on older events.

Here’s the teams in Pool C:

Bulgaria
Canada
China
Egypt
Mexico
Russia

And heeeeeeeeere we go!

BULGARIA

Current FIVB world ranking: 8th
2014 World League finish: Joint 7th
2012 Summer Olympics finish: 4th
2010 World Championship finish: 7th
Best-ever World Championship finish: Silver medal (1970)

Bulgaria are a team who are always in the conversation — except at this year’s World League, apparently. They were in Group 1 and a 7th-place finish means they won just a single match, a five-setter against the eventual champions from the USA. They played all their best players throughout the tournament, so even though they were going against some of the best teams in the world, it’s kind of a surprise to see them do so poorly. A finish of joint-7th doesn’t seem bad, but given the complex structure World League had it’s actually the worst they could possibly have done. I look more to their finishes at the Olympics and last year’s World League as the measuring stick — both times they lost in the semifinals before losing (both times to Italy) in the bronze final. That’s why I think of them as a team who are in the conversation, but never really topping it. They’ve won an Olympic silver and five Worlds medals, but never topping it. They’ve likewise got five medals at the CEV championship, without ever winning it. Not sure they’ve ever won a major international gold.

Players to watch for: Floor captain is outside hitter Tsvetan Sokolov (jersey #19), an opposite hitter and a veteran of 71 national team selections despite still only being 24. This is his first quadrennial tournament. Outside hitter Todor Skrimov (jersey #8) is his counterpart on the left side. In the last quadrennial, the top man was Todor Aleksiev (jersey #15), and he’s still around, but a bit more of a support player now. He’s also one of the oldest players on the roster, at age 31 (only sure-handed libero Teodor Salparov, jersey #13, is older, at 32). There’s some tall trees on the roster up the middle, among them Viktor Yosifov (jersey #12).

Bulgaria should comfortably make round 2, but beyond that, who knows.

  CANADA

Current FIVB world ranking: 15th
2014 World League finish: Joint 13th
2012 Summer Olympics finish: Did not participate
2010 World Championship finish: Joint 19th (last)
Best-ever World Championship finish: 10th (1994)

Now we’re talking 😉 Canada were one of the revelations of last year’s World League, making the finals and actually defeating the eventual champions Russia while there. I took that as a meaningful result, given that it was an odd-number-year World League (i.e. no major quadrennial tournament happening the same year) but evidently the FIVB didn’t, and Canada were placed in Group 2 in this year’s event. Pool C in Group 2 proved to be one of immense parity, as the teams’ final records were all either 7-5, 6-6, or 5-7. The Canadians were 6-6, agonisingly dropping a double-shot in Australia that would have enabled them to make the Group 2 finals. Missing out on them is what tumbles their world ranking — it was propped up on the basis of last year’s World League, but now that it’s this year’s World League figuring in, they’re dropped down a whopping 4 notches (no one in the top 25 dropped that much from the previous rankings to the current ones). In analysing whether the Canadians used their top players in this year’s World League, it’s hard to give a clear answer. Kinda yes, kinda no.

Players to watch for: Case-in-point, the team’s overwhelming top scorer when healthy, opposite hitter Gavin Schmitt (who, incidentally, has the same exact birthday as yours-truly; jersey #12) didn’t play in that final double shot of World League against the Volleyroos. It’s really this simple — if Schmitt’s there at full strength, Canada are a team that can make some noise. If he’s not, they become a lot easier to beat. I’m not sure why exactly he didn’t play the last week of World League; I only mention injuries because he’s battled them before. It could be a perfectly benign reason that he didn’t make the trip. He did play earlier in World League, including impressive 26- and 30-kill performances against those same Aussies in previous weeks.

Setter’s another position I’m unsure about heading into worlds. I’d expect either Dustin Schneider (jersey #8) or Joshua Howatson (jersey #4) to be helming the offence when available. Schneider played the first few weeks of World League, while Howatson wasn’t even on the roster. Both are on the world championships roster, along with Tyler Sanders (jersey #1) who set the team in the later World League matches. My pick of the litter is Schneider — despite being awfully undersized to play front-row (just 1.82m), it never actually seems like much of a disadvantage. Helps to have Schmitt (2.08m) there with him, I’m sure!

Canada’s floor captain remains outside hitter Fred Winters (jersey #15). He’s getting just a bit long in the tooth (will turn 32 shortly after the event concludes) but he’s still an important part of the team’s attack. Being second banana to Schmitt is nothing to be upset about. The team’s ‘grand old man’ however is certainly libero Dan Lewis (jersey #3), who at 38 is close to the oldest player in the tournament (a quick look at other rosters reveals Cameroon’s Serge Patrice Ag is 40, but I can’t imagine too many other players in this age-range). At recent-ish events, he’s split time with Blair Bann (jersey #19), though not in World League. Both are on the world championships roster.

I obviously hope to see the Canadians do well. Even given their middling rankings and history, I genuinely think it would be a surprise not to at least see them make it to the second pool round.

  CHINA

Current FIVB world ranking: 19th
2014 World League finish: 23rd
2012 Summer Olympics finish: Did not participate
2010 World Championship finish: Joint 19th (last)
Best-ever World Championship finish: 7th (1978, 1982)

As you may know, the People’s Republic of China tries to be all-things-to-all-people when it comes to the world of sports. Men’s volleyball is probably one of their weak points. They’ve qualified for just one Olympic tournament (making the ’08 tournament, of course, as the host nation), as opposed to the women’s program which has made 8 straight tournaments and has won a medal of each colour. The men have won medals at the Asian championships, but no other event. If it weren’t for the wide reach of this year’s World League, it’s pretty unlikely that they would have been included.

Players to watch for: I don’t really know this team, so I kinda have to go by scoresheets. The floor captain is outside hitter Weijun Zhong (or is it Zhong Weijun? I can never keep it straight; jersey #7). Outside hitter Zhi Yuan (jersey #2) looks to be capable of putting up some big performances, too, judging by his 31-kill outing against the Cubans in the World League Group 3 finals. Xin Geng (jersey #11) leads the way up the middle.

China may just eke into the second pool round, considering they only need to be top four of six. Getting that far should realistically be their top goal.

EGYPT

Current FIVB world ranking: 17th
2014 World League finish: Did not participate
2012 Summer Olympics finish: Did not participate
2010 World Championship finish: Joint 13th
Best-ever World Championship finish: Joint 13th (2010)

I’ve gotta say, I’m a little surprised to see the Egyptians here. It’s not because theirs is a weak program, at least at the CAVB level — if anything, just the opposite. No, I’m surprised to see them here because they’ve been having some organisational issues of late. They pulled out of last year’s World League at the 11th hour for reasons never quite made clear (my guess is insufficient host sites, but that’s only a guess) and weren’t even in this year’s mega-World League. This is a team that’s historically dominated at the All-Africa Games; 2011, which they didn’t play, has been the only time they didn’t medal at that event. But that doesn’t translate to much on the international stage. This is a team well in line to struggle in Poland.

Players to watch for: The floor captain is outside hitter Saleh Youssef (jersey #1). A name I actually recognise from past research is that of fellow outside hitter Ahmed Abdelhay (jersey #4); he will probably be the team’s top scorer. I’m really not sure who else to call out; even from the piece I did on them in preparation for last year’s World League (which they wound up not attending), there’s not too many held-over names.

And look at me, being an ethnocentric daughter-of-a-gun. I wrote more about Canada than about China and Egypt combined. But I think it reflects their chances; Egypt probably won’t make the second pool round.

  MEXICO

Current FIVB world ranking: 22nd
2014 World League finish: Joint 25th
2012 Summer Olympics finish: Did not participate
2010 World Championship finish: Joint 13th
Best-ever World Championship finish: 10th (1974)

For a team with not a whole lot of history on the international level, Mexico’s record in the world championships is surprisingly less than horrible. They’ve only played the event four times (this will make five), but have finished in the middle rather than the bottom each time. Mexico are another team I haven’t thought much about, but mostly because the country’s biggest stars in volleyball are Samantha Bricio on the women’s side, and Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros on the beach. Men’s indoor? Not too happening, all things considered. They’re probably the fourth-best side in NORCECA, but it’s a long way down from the top three (USA, Canada, Cuba — lately, in that order), and at the most recent NORCECA championship, they finished behind Puerto Rico as well.

Players to watch for: Floor captain for this event is Carlos Guerra (jersey #9), who didn’t play in World League. The FIVB website bafflingly lists his position as ‘Unknown.’ How can even they not know? Jorge Quiñones (jersey #7), likewise listed at ‘Unknown,’ was the team’s floor captain in World League. He remains on the roster for worlds, though I don’t know how significant of a player he is (didn’t really light up the stat sheet). Jesus Valdemar Valdes Loredo (jersey #2) was the team’s top scorer in World League, including a nice 22-kill outing against the Tunisians in Mexico’s final match. Daniel Vargas (jersey #1) is another big scorer.

Mexico have got shot to move on from this pool — it’s one spot for three teams basically. Much like China, making round 2 should be their goal.

RUSSIA

Current FIVB world ranking: 2nd
2014 World League finish: 5th
2012 Summer Olympics finish: Champions
2010 World Championship finish: 5th
Best-ever World Championship finish: Champions (1949, 1952, 1960, 1962, 1978, 1982; all as the Soviet Union)

Last but the absolute-bloody-opposite of least, we have Russia. They’re gonna run and hide in this pool, no question about it. I’m excited for the Russia-Canada match, as I believe it’ll be the first since last year’s World League finals, but I won’t pretend that I’m confident for it. But let’s get the rivalry in volleyball to the level of hockey, yeah?

Even if you didn’t hand them the Soviet Union’s history, Russia would be one of the strongest historical programs. They’ve played for an Olympic medal every time they’ve entered the Games as Russia, with a gold, a silver, two bronzes, and a 4th place to show for it. They haven’t finished any lower than 7th in the world championships as Russia, with a 2002 silver their high-water mark there. They haven’t finished any lower than 8th at the World League, and have a bucket of medals there. Quite simply one of the strongest programs in the world.

Players to watch for: Almost too many to name, but I’ll give a few. Floor captain is Sergey Makarov (jersey #2), who is the team’s oldest player at age 34. He’s not really the most veteran player, though; he wasn’t with them in London. Opposite hitter Nikolay Pavlov (jersey #7) is an insatiable scorer, one of those “you can’t stop him, you can only limit him” kind of guys. You’ll be sure to notice outside hitter Alexey Spiridonov (jersey #9), for being equal parts talented and cocky — and he’s off the charts in both areas. Two players I’ve taken to looking for on the Russian side are Maxim Mikhaylov and Dmitriy Muserskiy, the breakout stars of the London Olympics. You may notice I only linked one of those names — Mikhaylov’s not here. Not sure why. He wasn’t at World League, either, though he was on the roster (same went for Muserskiy). Muserskiy wears jersey #13, but honestly, you couldn’t miss him if you tried — he stands an absolutely behemoth 2.18m. He doesn’t just ride his height to being one of the best middle blockers in the world (although honestly, he probably could); he’s got all the technical skills, too. He’s a fearsome opponent (though you get the sense that off the court he’s probably a gentle giant) and a real treat to watch.

Ye olde SWAG

It’s not hard to see how this one plays out, in the broad strokes. Russia are gonna win the pool handily, followed by either Bulgaria or Canada, then the other of them, then there’s one spot in round 2 for China, Egypt, or Mexico. Take that to the bank.

1. Russia
2. Canada
3. Bulgaria
4. China
5. Mexico
6. Egypt