SERBIA, AUSTRALIA, ALEMANIA Y BULGARIA CLASIFICAN A LONDRES

[IVAN JIMMY]

Tambien Lloyd has dado los resultados a la velocidad de la luz jejjejeje
Acerte el podio jejjeje
SERBIA AUSTRALIA IRAN jejjejejejjejeje

[Lloyd]

PRESS RELEASE

“With Germany I approached my dreams to play in the Olympics,” says Grozer

Germany opposite Gyorg Grozer in a fantastic spike against Cuba in the World Qualification tournament in Berlin

Berlin, Germany, June 10, 2012 – More than 5 years ago the efficient opposite Georg Grozer had no dreams to play in the Olympic Games with his ex Hungarian Nationality, but when he was neutralized with the German Nationality in 2006 he started to think of that dream which comes to truth after the amazing victory for his new country Germany over Cuba on the second day of the World Olympic Qualification tournament at Berlin. It is an additional success for the Hungarian-born 27-year-old opposite spiker in this golden season for him.

In Cuba’s games, considered as the main decider for the Olympic ticket in Berlin, Grozer was the most outstanding player in the tournament as whole scoring impressive 35 points from 25 successful attacks, 6 serve aces and 4 blocks. Simply he was the magic of the tough five set match and enough that he scores the decisive point of the tiebreak.

“I’m happy with my team’s performance and passion they played against the strong Cuban team,” Grozer said after the 126-minute Marathon

“It is really a big dream to play in London among the best players of different sports all over the world. This is what I was thinking of since I’ve got the German passport after neutralization and I fell pound with my colleagues now,”

This season Grozer achieved Poland league championship with his club Rzeszow after three decades of absence at the top of the podium to cut the series of Belchatow dominance in the last years. He added a rare personal achievement when he was elected player of the year in Poland. It was the first time that a foreign player gained this title. He will shift this season to Belogorie in the Russian league.

Four years ago, Grozer was waiting for his German passport during the 2008 World Olympic qualification tournament in Düsseldorf. He was sitting in the tribune watching the decider match between Germany and Cuba when the former rebounded from two sets behind to win the tiebreaker 3-2.

“I was really interesting to follow up that match and I didn’t realize that this scene will be repeated 4 years later with almost the same kind of excitement. This time I was in the court with my team feeling the victory more than being in the tribune,”

Germany coach Vital Heynen has got a problem that is nice to have when it comes to the opposite position. Jochen Schöps as well as Georg Grozer are two options for the team in this critical position, who can resolve a match almost on their own.

Finally he chooses Grozer for this job being a world class volleyball player having impressive services and blocks. The 2.00 m tall player resembles his father, who created glories in the 80’s and 90’s, in appearance, game and motion.

In 2011 Grozer could not help the German team because of an injury but in 2012 the dynamic and powerful hitter wants to do his best in the World League beside the success in the Olympic Qualifier. . His fastest service is 128 km/h.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

Serbia finish Olympic qualification with perfect record

Captain for Serbia Bojan Janic spikes against the Venezuelan block

Tokyo, June 10, 2012 – Serbia overcame Venezuela 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-23) on the final day of action in the FIVB Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday.

Serbia’s top scorer was Uros Kovacevic with 14 points, while Luis Arias led Venezuela with 12 points. Serbia outblocked Venezuela 8-2 and outserved them 5-2.

Serbia finished with a perfect 7-0 record, while Venezuela ended 1-6.

With nothing at stake in the match except pride, both teams struggled to get into top gear. Serbia edged ahead 6-4 on the back of poor play by Venezuela, but then Serbia got sloppy and the scores were level at 7-7. It was low-key stuff at this stage. Venezuela coach Roberto Garcia called a timeout at 9-11 to try and galvanize his players into action, but second good block by Bojan Janic on Fernando Gonzalez put Serbia four points up at 13-9. Venezuela captain Kervin Pinerua responded with a cracking crosscourt kill but couldn’t stop Serbia extending their lead to six points at the second technical timeout. Uros Kovacevic delivered a couple of missiles down the left line to make it 19-11 and Garcia called another timeout. It made no difference. Milan Rasic brought up setpoint with a firm spike and a clever topspin serve fooled the Venezuelan players and put Serbia 1-0 up.

It didn’t get any better for Venezuela at the start of the second set as Serbia cruised into a 5-0 lead, prompting Garcia to call his players off court again. Finally, he got a response. Gonzalez did some fist-pumping after a spike down the right and on the next point the Venezuelans defended brilliantly to set up a winner for Luis Arias. They closed to within two at 8-6 before Serbia pulled away again, Kovacevic and Rasic leading the charge to an eight-point lead at the second TTO. There was no comeback for Venezuela. A shot down the middle by Marko Podrascanin brought up setpoint and Rasic put Serbia 2-0 ahead with another decent shot.

Venezuela fought well at the start of the third set and even managed their first blocking point of the match – Daniel Escobar on Kovacevic – but Serbia snatched a one-point lead at the first TTO. The lead was up to three points at 13-10, but a good spell of serving by Arias and good spiking and a block by Jhoser Conteras turned the tables, forcing Serbia coach Igor Kolakovic to call a timeout with his side trailing 15-13. Serbia rallied but it stayed close to the end of the set, with Venezuela’s Kervin Pinerua and Arias landing some meaty blows along the way. A spike by Aleksandar Atanasijevic gave Serbia matchpoint at 24-23 and a shot down the left line by Janic ended the match.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

We have to improve if we want an Olympic medal: Kolakovic

Coach of Serbia Igor Kolakovic and coach of Venezuela Garcia Roberto meet at their last press conference of the tournament

Serbia coach Igor Kolakovic: I want to say thank you to our friends from the Venezuela team. Today, I was satisfied as our young players respected the Venezuela team. We played with good concentration and good shape. It was important to finish with this victory and now we have a new opportunity in the World League.

(Re. Getting a medal at the Olympic Games): It will be a difficult task because in the Olympics we will play against the best teams in the world. We have to improve our game a lot if we want to reach the medals.

Serbia captain Bojan Janic: I’m happy about this victory because we won all our games in this tournament and dropped only one set. We were very strong and also played today with guys who didn’t play so much before. For me, it was one of the best tournaments with the national team and I hope we continue like this in the Olympic Games.

(Re. Olympic Games): We’ve just finished this tournament so now we will celebrate and be happy about the fact that we will play there. The most important thing is for everybody to be healthy and go there 100 per cent ready physically and mentally. If that’s the case, we have a good chance to get to the quarterfinals, which is our goal. But I think we can beat anybody if we play our best, so I think we can go and try to win some medal.

Venezuela captain Kervin Pinerua: I think today’s match was our best performance in this tournament. We are here to get experience, so in that sense I am happy with the results and our performances. In the future, we want to be a strong and powerful team. Our target is to get to the 2016 Olympics, so until them we will continue to build up our team.

Venezuela coach Roberto Garcia: Congratulations to the Serbia team for reaching the Olympics and good luck there. Today, I told my players that our opponents were strong so we did a good analysis to combat them. I’m satisfied with today’s result. Today, in the first and second sets we lost concentration, but in the third set we bounced back and became more confident. In the future, our target will be to get to the 2016 Olympic Games.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

Australia rout China to book Olympic ticket

Australia second team to clinch a ticket to the London Olympic Games in the last day of the round robin qualifying tournament in Tokyo on Sunday. China ended up at 5th position

Tokyo, June 10, 2012 – Australia booked their spot in the London Olympics with a storming 3-0 win (25-12, 25-20, 25-13) over China on the final day of action in the FIVB Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday.

Australia were led by Thomas Edgar with 15 points, while China’s top scorer was Zhang Chen with eight points. Australia outblocked China 10-1 and outserved them 5-3.

Australia had a lively start with captain Igor Yudin and Adam While getting in some heavy hits, while China’s Liang Chunlong got some good mileage from short sets in the center. Three poor plays by China prompted coach Zhou Jianan to call a timeout at 7-11, but a big block by Aidan Zingel on Zhong Weijun extended Australia’s lead. Yudin then came up with a sensational defensive reaction shot that landed in China’s backcourt and Australia steamrollered their way to a seven-point lead at the second technical timeout. Another big hit by Thomas Edgar and Zhou called another timeout. It didn’t get any better for China; they weren’t in the game at all and failed to get one block point in the first set. Setpoint came on a rotation error and a spike by White put Australia one-set up.

China came out with renewed resolve in the second set and a strong spell of serving by captain Cui Jianjun and good attacking play by Zhang Chen gave them a slight advantage. A brilliant recovery from over the scorer’s desk set up a point that put China 6-3 up and they held on to that margin to the first TTO. Two misplaced hits by White took the score to 11-7 and Australia coach Jon Uriarte called his players off court for a talk. Edgar, Yudin and White then pulled their team level at 11, prompting Zhou to haul his team off court. Cui’s enthusiasm then got the better of him when he hit a serve into the crowd, but he did better a few plays later when he hit a rocket through the Aussie defence. Bian Hongmin added a shot and China were two points up at the second TTO. But Zhang, Cui and Chen Ping blew big chances to secure China’s lead and blocks by Edgar and Zingel (twice) blew a big hole in China’s hopes of leveling the scores. Zingel’s second block made the score 24-20 and Edgar planted a shot in the China court to put Australia 2-0 up.

Zingel got his team off to a good start in the third set and two wide shots from China saw the score run to 6-2. Zhou called his players off court, but the Australians were in control and were five points ahead at the first TTO. A block by Zingel on Yuan Zhi made the score 13-7 and prompted Zhou to use his second timeout, but the truth was China had no answer for the rampant Australians. Three successive China errors widened the gap to 16-8 at the second TTO and a superb spell of serving by Edgar – including three unreturnable shots – all but finished them off. Matchpoint came on a netted serve by Yu Dawei and White finished things off with a crisp crosscourt smash.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

We were dogs out there today: Australia captain

China coach Zhou Jianan congratulate the captain of Australia Igor Yudin and coach Jon Uriarte

Press conference: China v Australia
Australia coach Jon Uriarte: First of all, I want to congratulate my team. This team has made an amazing effort in the last few years, but specifically in the last 50 days. We started to work at the end of the professional season and most of the players didn’t come back after the regular season but joined the team in Italy. We have been preparing and training and having matches in different countries – Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Holland, Italy again – and it’s been an amazing effort. And it’s not just been training and working hard; we’ve been trying to build up the personality and creating energy day by day. During the tournament, they were the protaganists of this and for this reason, I want to congratulate them. Today, we wanted to disrupt China’s offense and each rotation had specific targets to try and create problems for their offence. We still need to be more fluent and consistent in reception attack; they did a good job today but it hasn’t been like that every day. We have a lot of room to improve in defence. Our block is quite good but not efficient enough, especially if we want to make the next step and challenge the top teams in the world.

Australia captain Igor Yudin: First of all, I want to congratulate all the staff and members of the team because the job they did this week was something special. I can’t put into words how much is done behind closed doors. Today, as I said yesterday, was a do-or-die game again, the final show and it was up to us to perform. We were the actors and it’s an amazing feeling to come on the last day and dominate a team like that. It’s an unbelievable experience and all of us are really happy to be part of that. For these games, you have to be a lion or a dog and we did that today. We didn’t want to go out there and have people say ‘we could have…’ or ‘we should have…’ We wanted people to see dogs on court and today we did that perfectly. I can’t remember having the same focus and aggression since I joined the team. It’s great that we made this step on such a huge stage and at such a huge moment.

China coach Zhou Jianan: Congratulations to the Australia team not only for today’s win but also for winning a ticket to the Olympics. They played really well today. As for us, I was not satisfied with our performance. They put us under pressure, but the biggest factor was the fact that we lost ourselves. Our will to win was not good enough.

China captain Cui Jianjun: Today, the Australians played great and they put a lot of pressure on us with their serves. That disrupted the flow of our attack. We were hoping to set up rallies against the Australians but we just didn’t have the chance to do that today, so that was disappointing. As a team we played with full power and energy in this game, so I think we can move forward from here.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

Korea deny Puerto Rico with five-set win in Tokyo

Shin Yung-Suk spike for Korea against Puerto Rico in their last match of the tournament putting down Puerto Rico as the last team of the qualification tournament in Japan

Tokyo, June 10, 2012 – Korea denied Puerto Rico their last chance to pick up a win on the final day of action in the FIVB Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday. Korea edged the Puerto Ricans 3-2 (15-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12). Korea ended the tournament with a 3-4 record.

Korea were led by Jeon Kwang-In with 18 points while Puerto Rico’s top scorer was Lozada Ezequiel Cruz with 31 points. Puerto Rico outserved Korea 6-2, and the two teams had 11 block points each. Puerto Rico committed 35 errors to Korea’s 23.

Both teams came out positively. Cruz made a good early contribution with three solid hits, while Choi Hong-Suk delivered a big shot for Korea. Puerto Rico captain Jose Rivera came up with a hefty spike and a great block on Kim Yo-Han to make the score 11-8, prompting Korea coach Park Ki-Won to call a timeout. Puerto Rico kept the pressure on and were four points ahead at the second technical timeout, before Korea clawed two points back and Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona took his players off court for a talk. Two dropped points later, Park had his players on the sidelines again. Korea were being hurt by poor reception and when they faced the booming serves of Enrique Escalante, they had no answer. Puerto Rico scored the last seven points of the set, six behind the serving of Escalante. The final two were aces.

Jeon Kwang-In and Kim helped Korea to an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the second set, but blocks by Roberto Muniz and Cruz pulled the teams level at 8-8. Cardona called a timeout at 8-10, which had bad consequences. Puerto Rico were then penalized for three successive positional errors, which cost them three points, and had the added penalty of a yellow card for dissent. So they found themselves trailing 14-8, and there was no way back for them after that. Lee Sun-Kyu hit a shot down the middle to bring up setpoint and a hit by Choi drew the teams level at 1-1.

Cardona called a timeout after three errors saw his team go 5-1 down in the third set and his team rallied behind the serving of Cruz and a couple of Korean mistakes. After Choi and Figueroa traded missiles and Kim hit the net, the scores were level at 6-6. Puerto Rico edged ahead after two straight blocks by Rivera on Kim, and Park called a timeout when his team fell 11-8 behind. Jeon tried hard to pull his team back into the game, but errors and poor serving saw them fall further behind and they were four points back at the second TTO. They weren’t helped by a yellow card and two good blocks by the Puerto Ricans. Park called a timeout after the second one – with the score at 23-17 – but another error brought up setpoint at 24-18. Rivera then hit the winner and Puerto Rico were 2-1 up.

Puerto Rico had the early advantage in the fourth set after a great spike by Cruz and a block by the same player on Lee. But then they made a few errors and allowed Korea back into the game, a wayward shot by Rivera drawing the teams level at 7-7. They were still level at 9-9, but three straight points by Lee opened up a three-point gap and Cardona called a timeout. The margin was the same at the second TTO and the Puerto Ricans were struggling to find a way to break the Koreans down. Cardona called another timeout at 19-15, but the Koreans kept the pressure on and a terrific block by Jeon on Cruz brought the score to 23-16. Figueroa hit a shot long and Jeon made another hit, and the match was all-square at 2-2.

Korea took a small early lead in the fifth set and Puerto Rico had to play catch-up. But they managed that behind good attacking play from captain Rivera and Cruz. Korea’s coach called a timeout when Puerto Rico went ahead at 7-6 and Puerto Rico stayed a point ahead at the changeover. It stayed very, very tight. Korea got a break when Escalante failed to connect properly with a hit and he was blocked by Shin Yung-Suk to put Korea 13-12 up. Captain Kwon Young-Min then fooled the Puerto Ricans with a topspin serve that dropped in to bring up matchpoint. Cruz then hit a shot into the net and it was all over.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

We're not at this level right now: Puerto Rico captain

Carlos Cardona coach for Puerto Rico at the press conference against Korea.

Puerto Rico captain Jose Rivera: I think today was another day when we demonstrated that we don’t have the level to play at this tournament now. Hopefully, we’ll come back to Japan another time with a new team and next time play much better. We had a bad tournament and I’m very disappointed with the way we played.

Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona: I’ve got two things to say about today’s game. First, for Puerto Rico, we made many errors. We especially made a number of errors on attack and because of that we lost chances to win. Next, we were called for three faults by the second referee in the second set. The first, I accept, but the other two I don’t accept. Our setter was careful not to make the same mistake so I have a problem with the other two calls. To me, they weren’t fair. Also, the Korean setter and receivers were out of position several times but no call was made. The first referee controlled the situation well, but our team’s spirit and flow was heavily disrupted by those calls.

(Re. No. 15 Cruz): He is a player with a lot of ability. His original position is not opposite, but he is a high-level player with a lot of potential. He can still grow.

Korea coach Park Ki-Won: I have to wait three more years. I’d like to prepare for the next Olympics. I want to thank my players who did their best to the end.

Korea captain Kwon Young-Min: We are really glad to win the last match today. Although we couldn’t get a ticket to the Olympics, I think we did our best, so we will pass our dreams and spirits to the next generation.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

Iran edge Japan in three thrilling sets in Tokyo

Iran nailed Japan in 3 straight sets ending 3rd in the FIVB Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament 2012. Japan 4th. Both failed to qualify for the Olympic Summer Games in London

Tokyo, June 10, 2012 – Iran beat Japan in the final match on the final day of action in the FIVB Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday. Iran edged Japan 3-0 (25-22, 35-33, 25-22) to finish with a 5-2 record. Japan dropped to 4-3. Both sides were out of the running for an Olympic berth after Australia clinched the final spot earlier in the day with a win over China.

Iran were led by Amir Ghafour with 21 points, while Japan’s top scorer was Kunihiro Shimizu with 24. Iran outserved Japan 3-1 and outblocked them 10-3. Iran committed 18 errors to Japan’s 22.

Iran started out in lively fashion with Mohammad Mousavi gunning down three big hits early on. Japan got a fine service ace from Shimizu but trailed by two at the first technical timeout. A shot by Yusuke Ishijima brought Japan level and a super block by Shimizu on Ghafour put Japan ahead. But it stayed close. Both teams were serving big and making few errors. It was still all square at 14, but shots by Yoshihiko Matsumoto and Tatsuya Fukuzawa gave Japan a two-point lead at the second TTO. After a spike by Farhad Ghaemi, a block by Mousavi on Fukuzawa and a long shot by Fukuzawa, Japan coach Tatsuya Ueta called a timeout. Shimizu then sent a shot wide to give Iran a two-point lead. Iran stretched that to four after a serve by Mir Saeid Marouflakrani fooled Japan and dropped in, and Mousavi blocked Kota Yamamura. Iran coach Julio Velasco called a timeout after a big hit by Ishijima and a combination of cracking serve and thumping spike by Shimizu and Fukuzawa narrowed the gap to 23-21, but Ghaemi brought up setpoint at 24-21 and Ghafour put Iran 1-0 up with a spike through the Japan defence.

The second set was a humdinger. Japan started off brilliantly with a fantastic recovery save by Ishijima that set up a winner for Shimizu. But the game settled back in to a routine of nail-biting parity after that. Japan led 8-7 at the first TTO and upped that to 9-7 on a spike by Shimizu. Two errors by Iran put Japan 13-9 ahead and Velasco called for a timeout. But Japan got a little sloppy and after an error allowed Mousavi a winner, Ueta called a timeout. A good shot by Shimizu gave Japan a two-point margin at the second TTO and they were three ahead after a shot by Ishijima. From then on, it was tense and intense. Iran pushed back; Japan held on. Every point was huge. Japan pulled away from 21-19 to 23-19 on the back of a kill by Yoshihiko Matsumoto and a fabulous block by Yamamura on Alireza Nadi. Ghafour delivered two big ones and Akira Koshiya made a reception error to make it 23-22. Ueta called a timeout. Yamamura handed Japan two setpoints but two errors leveled the scores. Four times in a row, Shimizu banged out huge shots that gave Japan setpoint. Three of those four times, Ghafour came to the rescue for Iran. A block by Nadi on Fukuzawa turned the tables at 29-28 and then Japan had to save the setpoints. They did it over and over again until they were unable to handle a spike by Alireza Mobasheri and Iran were two sets ahead.

The intensity diminished only slightly at the start of the third set, but errors by Japan allowed Iran to open up a two-point lead at the first TTO with Mobasheri and Mousavi leading the way for the Iranians. Iran led all the way from 5-4 to 14-13, but never by more than two points. Japan drew level at 14-14 on the back of some rare sloppy play by Iran and then it was neck-and-neck again and the tension was back. Mobasheri delivered a couple of thunderbolts, but a rocket by Fukuzawa saw Japan go into the lead for the first time at 19-18. Iran got the edge again after a double-touch by Fukuzawa and were two points up after a super block by Mousavi on Ishijima. A big hit by Ishijima caught the net and sailed wide to hand Iran three matchpoints. Shimizu thundered in a response. Velasco called a timeout and fittingly Iran captain Nadi ended the match with a shot down the middle.

[Lloyd]

MATCH INFO

We deserve to be in the Olympics: Iran captain

Coach of Iran Julio Velasco explained their win against Japan at the last press conference in the Men´s Olympic Qualification Tournament 2012

Iran captain Alireza Nadi: We were able to perform in this atmosphere and showed we were able to win in three sets and also show that we deserved to be in the Olympic Games in London. We want to show that Asian teams should be in the Olympics. Australia is in the Olympics but they are not part of Asia. Today, Japan played well but we were better and we never lost confidence.

Iran No. 10 Amir Ghafour: Today was just about playing for our country, for ourselves, our staff and our coaches who work hard for us and whom we appreciate. We showed that we deserve to be in the Olympics, but we had bad luck and couldn’t qualify. Coach Velasco told us before the game that if we want to think about the next Olympics we had to start today, so we showed that we have started today.

Iran coach Julio Velasco: First I want to congratulate Serbia and Australia for qualifying for the Olympics, and I want to congratulate Japan for the organisation of this tournament. And I want to congratulate my players because it was not easy to play this match. We were sad because we didn’t qualify for the Olympics and Japan were sad for the same reason, so we had to play for pride, for our federation, for our work. I asked the players not to be upset. I told them that playing in this atmosphere in Japan with its history of volleyball, we have to enjoy it and that’s what they did. We did very well with our tactics, especially with our serve and block. We used our serve in a tactical way – not only with power – and we changed the block for the important attackers of Japan. And our defence played better in counterattack than Japan. I told my players they shouldn’t complain. This is a group that can grow up and I hope next time we can qualify for the Olympic Games.

Japan captain Daisuke Usami: It was difficult to be motivated because Australia had qualified for the Olympics and we lost 3-0, and mentally it’s quite sad. We have young players in the Japan team and I want them to go to the next Olympics.

Japan No. 14 Tatsuya Fukuzawa: Before the match, we already knew that we couldn’t go to the Olympics and we had to find some motivation. The Japanese supporters cheered us up, but we lost so that’s not good. In such a difficult situation if we could have been more motivated maybe we could have qualified for the Games.

Japan No. 13 Kunihiro Shimizu: I wanted to win but we couldn’t and it’s because we didn’t have the power to win the game, so I regret that.

Japan coach Tatsuya Ueta: Today was difficult because we knew we couldn’t go to the Olympics, but my players played really well. It was my responsibility that we couldn’t win today, but I think our players did their best. The result is not what I expected and I’m sorry about that. The biggest reason we couldn’t win was about getting the first point. Our motivation was low, but it was the same for Iran, so I’m sorry about that. We have improved mentally, physically and tactically over four years, but today was my responsibility, not the players.