2017 FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD GRAND PRIX
- Group 1
- July 7th – August 6th
- FIVB World Grand Prix – Final 6
- Nanjing, China
- Schedule/Results
After just 1 day of play in the 2017 FIVB World Grand Prix Final 6, fates have already turned dramatically in the quest for spots in the Final 4.
Specifically in Pool K1, where 2nd-seeded Serbia beat 3rd-seeded United States 3-2, which was the same outcome in the semi-finals of last year’s Olympic tournament (where Serbia would go on to get silver and the United States bronze).
While that loss does hurt the United States’ chances of advancing, as compared to, say, a win would, the fact that the Americans picked up a point by pushing to a 5th set. That opens up way more scenarios and puts some pressure on Italy before they’ve even played a match. Now, Italy can’t advance without beating either the United States or Serbia – and if that Italian win is just 3-2, it still leaves them in a perilous situation. The Americans, meanwhile, could still theoretically advance if they lose 3-2 to Italy. presuming the Italians were to turn around and lose 3-0 to Serbia. That would leave Team USA and Italy with 2 points each, and the Americans would have a .667 sets ratio (4 wins, 6 losses) while Italy would have just a .600 set ratio (3 wins, 5 losses).
In either case, an American win over Italy on Thursday would seal the Americans and Serbia through to the semi-finals in some order.
In the other Pool, J1, the defending Olympic Champions China halted the late-surging momentum of the defending Grand Prix champions Brazil with a 3-0 sweep. Brazil struggled early in the Grand Prix, but won their last 3 matches of pool play to sneak into the Final 6.
China, meanwhile, who coasted through pool play with their automatic bid as hosts in place, unleashed their full power on Wednesday, thumping Brazil in a sweep. Thanks to the dominant nature of Brazil’s 3-0 sweep (with a 79:66 point ratio), they’ve almost guaranteed their spot in the finals already. Their next match will be against the Netherlands, who went the opposite of Brazil – they led group 1 early in the tournament, but were swept on the last weekend of play, but had just enough to get into the Final 6. China could already be clinched if the Dutch beat Brazil. If the Brazilians win that Thursday battle, though, China can still get in to the semi-finals with a win of any nature, or even with a loss and tie breakers (which they’ll have an advantage in after the sweep).
Day 1 of Final 6 Results and Standings Below:
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  China |
1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | MAX | 79 | 66 | 1.197 |
| 2 |  Brazil |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 66 | 79 | 0.835 |
| 3 |  Netherlands |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Aug | 19:30 | China |
3–0 | Brazil |
25–22 | 25–17 | 29–27 | 79–66 | P2 P3 | ||
| 3 Aug | 19:30 | Brazil |
– | Netherlands |
– | ||||||
| 4 Aug | 19:30 | China |
– | Netherlands |
– |
Pool K1[edit]
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Serbia |
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1.500 | 106 | 100 | 1.060 |
| 2 |  United States |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.667 | 100 | 106 | 0.943 |
| 3 |  Italy |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Aug | 15:00 | Serbia |
3–2 | United States |
25–22 | 25–17 | 23–25 | 18–25 | 15–11 | 106–100 | P2 P3 |
| 3 Aug | 15:00 | United States |
– | Italy |
– | – | – | – | |||
| 4 Aug | 15:00 | Serbia |
– | Italy |
– | – | – | – |
Full Match Replays and Highlights
China def. Brazil 3-0
Serbia def. United States 3-2
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