2008 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix

The FIVB World Grand Prix 2008 was a women's volleyball tournament in which 12 countries competed from 20 June to 12 July 2008. The finals were held in Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan. Cuba, Brazil, Dominican Republic and the United States qualified for the tournament at the 2007 Women's Pan-American Cup in Colima, Mexico. Germany, Turkey, Italy, and Poland qualified through the European Qualifying Tournament in Ankara, Turkey. China, Japan, Thailand, and Kazakhstan qualified as the best four Asian teams.

FIVB World Grand Prix

Tournament details
Host nation	Japan (Final)
Dates	20 June – 12 July
Teams	12
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Champions	Brazil (7th title)
Tournament awards
MVP	Marianne Steinbrecher
Official website

Competing nations

The following national teams qualified:

Europe	America	Asia
Germany  Italy  Poland  Turkey	Brazil  Cuba  Dominican Republic  United States	China  Japan  Kazakhstan  Thailand

Calendar

Week 1 20–22 June 2008
Group A: Kobe, Japan	Group B: Ningbo, China	Group C: Alassio, Italy
Japan  United States  Turkey  Kazakhstan	China  Brazil  Germany  Thailand	Italy  Cuba  Poland  Dominican Republic
Week 2 27–29 June 2008
Group D: Vĩnh Phúc, Vietnam	Group E: Wrocław, Poland	Group F: Hong Kong
Brazil  Turkey  Kazakhstan  Germany	Poland  United States  Dominican Republic  Thailand	Italy  China  Japan  Cuba
Week 3 4–6 July 2008
Group G: Bangkok, Thailand	Group H: Taipei, Chinese Taipei	Group I: Macau
Thailand  Cuba  Kazakhstan  Germany	Italy  United States  Turkey  Poland	China  Brazil  Japan  Dominican Republic
Week 4 Final Round 9–13 July 2008
Yokohama, Japan
Top five teams  Brazil  China  Italy  United States  Cuba and  Japan as host

Teams

Preliminary rounds

Group A

June 20, 2008

Turkey	3 – 1	United States	28–26, 25–16, 21–25, 25–19
Japan	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	25–17, 25–13, 25–23

June 21, 2008

Kazakhstan	0 – 3	United States	16–25, 17–25, 18–25
Japan	3 – 2	Turkey	21–25, 25–16, 17–25, 25–19, 15–12

June 22, 2008

Kazakhstan	0 – 3	Turkey	17–25, 24–26, 15–25
Japan	2 – 3	United States	29–27, 18–25, 25–18, 16–25, 13–15

Group B

June 20, 2008

Brazil	3 – 0	Thailand	25–22, 25–18, 25–20
China	3 – 1	Germany	19–25, 25–19, 25–11, 25–21

June 21, 2008

China	3 – 0	Thailand	25–11, 25–16, 25–19
Germany	1 – 3	Brazil	25–15, 23–25, 20–25, 28–30

June 22, 2008

Germany	3 – 1	Thailand	19–25, 25–18, 25–21, 25–22
China	3 – 2	Brazil	22–25, 26–24, 22–25, 25–22, 15–13

Group C

June 20, 2008

Cuba	3 – 1	Poland	25–20, 29–31, 25–21, 26–24
Italy	3 – 1	Dominican Republic	19–25, 25–19, 25–17, 25–15

June 21, 2008

Dominican Republic	0 – 3	Cuba	22–25, 15–25, 19–25
Italy	3 – 1	Poland	25–17, 25–22, 23–25, 25–16

June 22, 2008

Poland	2 – 3	Dominican Republic	21–25, 25–23, 25–19, 23–25, 11–15
Italy	3 – 0	Cuba	25–23, 27–25, 27–25

Group D

June 27, 2008

Brazil	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	25–10, 25–17, 25–19
Turkey	3 – 1	Germany	25–21, 25–22, 25–27, 25–18

June 28, 2008

Kazakhstan	0 – 3	Germany	17–25, 19–25, 21–25
Brazil	3 – 0	Turkey	25–23, 25–19, 25–15

June 29, 2008

Germany	0 – 3	Brazil	15–25, 25–27, 17–25
Turkey	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	25–16, 25–20, 25–17

Group E

June 27, 2008

Poland	1 – 3	Dominican Republic	23–25, 25–19, 17–25, 20–25
Thailand	1 – 3	United States	18–25, 17–25, 28–26, 13–25

June 28, 2008

Poland	2 – 3	Thailand	25–19, 21–25, 25–18, 23–25, 4–15
United States	3 – 0	Dominican Republic	25–13, 25–21, 25–20

June 29, 2008

Poland	0 – 3	United States	17–25, 16–25, 20–25
Dominican Republic	3 – 1	Thailand	25–19, 24–26, 25–21, 25–22

Group F

June 27, 2008

Italy	3 – 0	Japan	25–17, 25–20, 25–22
China	3 – 2	Cuba	25–18, 25–27, 21–25, 25–21, 15–13

June 28, 2008

Cuba	2 – 3	Italy	25–21, 19–25, 25–19, 20–25, 13–15
China	3 – 0	Japan	25–16, 29–27, 25–22

June 29, 2008

Japan	1 – 3	Cuba	25–22, 21–25, 19–25, 16–25
China	3 – 2	Italy	18–25, 25–20, 21–25, 27–25, 15–8

Group G

July 4, 2008

Thailand	2 – 3	Kazakhstan	19–25, 19–25, 25–19, 25–17, 14–16
Cuba	3 – 1	Germany	23–25, 25–21, 25–8, 25–21

July 5, 2008

Germany	3 – 0	Thailand	25–18, 25–15, 25–16
Kazakhstan	1 – 3	Cuba	25–22, 19–25, 21–25, 16–25

July 6, 2008

Thailand	2 – 3	Cuba	20–25, 22–25, 25–23, 25–17, 9–15
Germany	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	25–15, 25–19, 25–19

Group H

July 4, 2008

United States	3 – 1	Poland	20–25, 25–23, 25–19, 25–10
Italy	3 – 1	Turkey	25–20, 21–25, 30–28, 25–23

July 5, 2008

United States	3 – 1	Turkey	16–25, 20–25, 25–20, 17–25
Italy	3 – 2	Poland	23–25, 23–25, 25–20, 25–14, 18–16

July 6, 2008

Poland	3 – 0	Turkey	25–21, 25–22, 25–22
Italy	3 – 0	United States	25–22, 25–21, 25–16

Group I

July 4, 2008

Brazil	3 – 2	Dominican Republic	23–25, 22–25, 25–22, 25–23, 15–9
China	3 – 0	Japan	25–16, 25–19, 25–15

July 5, 2008

Brazil	3 – 0	Japan	25–16, 25–21, 25–15
China	3 – 0	Dominican Republic	25–16, 25–22, 25–21

July 6, 2008

Dominican Republic	3 – 0	Japan	26–24, 25–13, 25–18
China	0 – 3	Brazil	21–25, 17–25, 20–25

Preliminary Ranking

	Team	Points	G	W	L	PW	PL	Ratio	SW	SL	Ratio
1.	Brazil	17	9	8	1	766	639	1.199	26	6	4.333
2.	China	17	9	8	1	783	687	1.140	24	10	2.400
3.	Italy	17	9	8	1	844	751	1.124	26	10	2.600
4.	United States	16	9	7	2	771	664	1.161	22	11	2.000
5.	Cuba	15	9	6	3	856	785	1.090	22	15	1.467
6.	Turkey	13	9	4	5	743	732	1.015	16	17	0.941
7.	Germany	13	9	4	5	710	709	1.001	16	16	1.000
8.	Dominican R.	13	9	4	5	725	761	0.953	15	19	0.789
9.	Japan	11	9	2	7	641	737	0.870	9	23	0.391
10.	Poland	10	9	1	8	768	855	0.898	13	24	0.542
11.	Thailand	10	9	1	8	710	824	0.862	10	26	0.385
12.	Kazakhstan	10	9	1	8	552	725	0.761	4	26	0.154

Final round

Yokohama Arena, Yokohama
July 9, 2008

Brazil	3 – 0	United States	25–19, 25–19, 25–23
China	2 – 3	Italy	25–22, 27–29, 25–20, 20–25, 9–15
Japan	1 – 3	Cuba	25–19, 23–25, 18–25, 19–25

July 10, 2008

China	1 – 3	Cuba	21–25, 25–20, 24–26, 16–25
Italy	0 – 3	Brazil	20–25, 17–25, 23–25
Japan	2 – 3	United States	28–26, 20–25, 25–22, 20–25, 11–15

July 11, 2008

Brazil	3 – 1	China	25–18, 25–16, 21–25, 25–18
Cuba	3 – 2	United States	22–25, 17–25, 25–18, 25–21, 15–11
Japan	3 – 0	Italy	25–23, 25–22, 26–24

July 12, 2008

Brazil	3 – 0	Cuba	25–14, 25–15, 25–20
Italy	3 – 1	United States	25–17, 26–28, 25–19, 25–19
Japan	1 – 3	China	17–25, 30–28, 15–25, 21–25

July 13, 2008

United States	3 – 2	China	25–23, 25–19, 22–25, 21–25, 17–15
Cuba	3 – 1	Italy	28–30, 25–18, 25–23, 25–19
Japan	0 – 3	Brazil	23–25, 23–25, 19–25

Final ranking

	Team	Points	G	W	L	PW	PL	Ratio	SW	SL	Ratio
1.	Brazil	10	5	5	0	396	312	1.269	15	1	15.000
2.	Cuba	9	5	4	1	446	436	1.023	12	8	1.500
3.	Italy	7	5	2	3	431	443	0.973	7	12	0.583
4.	United States	7	5	2	3	467	491	0.951	9	13	0.692
5.	China	6	5	1	4	479	496	0.966	9	13	0.692
6.	Japan	6	5	1	4	412	454	0.910	7	12	0.583

Overall Ranking

Place Team  Brazil  Cuba  Italy 4  United States 5  China 6  Japan 7  Turkey 8  Germany 9  Dominican Republic 10  Poland 11  Thailand 12  Kazakhstan

2008 FIVB Women's World Grand Prix Winners  Brazil Seventh title Team roster Walewska Oliveira, Carolina Albuquerque, Marianne Steinbrecher, Paula Pequeno, Thaísa Menezes, Hélia Souza (c), Valeska Menezes, Fabiana Claudino, Wélissa Gonzaga, Jaqueline Carvalho, Sheilla Castro, Fabiana Oliveira Head Coach José Roberto Guimarães

Individual awards

Most Valuable Player:  Marianne Steinbrecher (BRA) Best Spiker:  Daimí Ramírez (CUB) Best Blocker:  Walewska Oliveira (BRA) Best Server:  Megumi Kurihara (JPN)

Best Libero:  Yuko Sano (JPN) Best Setter:  Yoshie Takeshita (JPN) Best Scorer:  Megumi Kurihara (JPN)

References

• FIVB official site