2017 WORLD GRAND CHAMPIONS CUP
- Women – September 5-9
- Men – September 12-17
- Nagoya and Osaka, Japan
- Women – Schedule/Results
- Men – Schedule
- Power Rankings
Italy and Iran meet for the second time at the 2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup – with Iran having taken the first meeting over Italy in five sets in 2013. The last four times that the two squads have met, Italy has won in straight sets.
The last time the two teams faced off was in their first match at the 2017 FIVB World League, where Italy came out dominant with a three-set win. Iran took down Italy back in 2014 at the World Championships.
Italy is making their fourth appearance at the World Grand Champions Cup, winning the inaugural season in 1993, while also competing in 2005 and 2013 editions. In 2013, Italy won just one of their matches – a 3-0 victory over Japan. Italy will be carried by Filippo Lanza and Luca Vettori.
Iran is making their third appearance at the World Grand Champions Cup, taking fifth in 2009 and fourth in 2013. Three of Iran’s four wins at the event have come in five-sets. The Iranians have a new coach, Igor Kolakovic who is looking to help the program advance further, having already helped the team qualify for the 2018 FIVB World Championships. The team will be led by Amir Ghafour.
Editor’s note: Video not made available in the United States. If you are not in the United States, but an error in YouTube’s geolocation service is still blocking your access, you can use a program like TunnelBear to redirect to the proper country.
Leave a Reply