2017 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE – GROUP 1
- June 2nd-July 8th, 2017
- Event site
- Event Schedule
With 2 games to play in the intercontinental round of the 2017 FIVB World League’s top tier (Group 1), there are a pair of ‘elimination games’ on tap for Saturday in Poland, plus a half-elimination in Argentina.
In group H1, at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland, the loser of the match between the United States and Russia will be eliminated. Whoever takes a defeat there won’t be able to earn enough points, even if they pick up a 4th win on Sunday, to qualify for the Final 6 – though things get complicated if its a 5-set loss.
The defending Olympic bronze medalists from the United States need 2 wins plus a Belgium loss on Saturday to advance to the Final 6. Belgium seals
That match starts at 5:25PM local time, which is 6:25PM in Moscow or 10:25AM in the United States
3 hours later, the hosts Poland and Iran will also play an elimination match. For Poland, the defending World Champions, the tournament started out promisingly with wins over Brazil and Italy, but they’ve taken just 1 out of 5 matches since. That includes a 3-0 loss to a banged-up Russian team on Thursday in Katowice that the Poles should have been big favorites in.
That match starts at 8:25PM local time, which is 10:55PM Iran time.
Meanwhile in Cordoba, Bulgaria needs to beat Serbia in order to stay alive. Serbia sealed their spot in the Final 6 with their win against the hosts on Friday, and while a superior team, have shown bouts of inconsistency already this summer.
That match starts at 4:10PM local time, which is 9:10PM in Bulgaria and 8:10PM in Serbia.
Italy, after a surprising upset win over France on Friday, are technically still alive, but they would need big wins and a lot of 5-set results in elimination games to stay alive.
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