2007 FIVB World Grand Prix to kick off on August 3 (photo attached)

Updated：2007-08-01

The 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix is scheduled to kick off on this Friday, the 3th of August,2007. The first three Pools of the preliminary will be held in three destinations of Tokyo (Japan), Verona (Italy) and Rzeszow (Poland).

Friday 3rd August is the D-Day: twelve of the world strongest Women's teams will start to compete for the 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix, a unique annual showcase for Women's Volleyball, which will end with a Final Round in Ningbo, China, from 22nd to 26th of August. With three gold medals in a row (2004/2006) and other three first places in '94, '96 and '98, Brazil is the top squad of the tournament and will start its journey from Italy.

The 2007 World Grand Prix lasts for 4 weeks with a total of 65 matches. During the first, second and third weeks each team will play 9 matches in total. Preliminary rounds will be organized in Japan, Italy, Poland, Macau, Hong Kong, Taipei, Russia and Chinese Taipei. Classification in the preliminary rounds is decided by the number of points gained by the teams participating in the same group. The classification in the general ranking of the preliminary rounds of the 2007 WGP is decided by the total number of World Grand Prix Points (GPP) gained by the teams in the preliminary matches. The host team China plus the top five ranked teams after the preliminary rounds will qualify to play in Ningbo over 5 days (15 matches) with a round robin system to decide the 2007 World Grand Prix Champion.

World Champion Ekaterina Gamova. Russia will start its World Grand Prix in Poland

Tokyo (Japan), Verona (Italy) and Rzeszow (Poland) will host the first three Pools from Friday to Sunday 5th August. The Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo is hosting Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan and Kazakhstan for Pool A. The PalaOlimpia in Verona will welcome Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Italy and the Netherlands for Pool B. Pool C with China, Poland, Russia and the U.S.A. is going to play in Na Podpromium in the Polish city of Rzeszow.

The second weekend (10th - 12th August) is scheduled in Tokyo, Japan (Pool D: Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Netherlands), in Khabarovsk, Russia (Pool E: Cuba, Kazakhstan, Russia, U.S.A.) and in Hong Kong, China (Pool F: China, Dominican Republic, Italy, Poland).

The third weekend (17th - 19th August) is foreseeing in Osaka, Japan (Pool G: Japan, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia), in Taipei, Chinese Taipei (Pool H: Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Dominican Republic, Italy) and in Macau (Pool I: China, Cuba, Netherlands, U.S.A.).

(Credit: FIVB. Click here for further information.)