FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix

FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix

Current season, competition or edition: 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix
Sport	Volleyball
Founded	1993
No. of teams	28
Continent	International (FIVB)
Most recent champion(s)	United States (6th title)
Most titles	Brazil (10 titles)

The FIVB World Grand Prix is a women's volleyball competition. Created in 1993, the tournament is annual. The men's version of the competition is called World League. This event should not be confused with the other international volleyball competitions, the World Championship, the World Cup and the World Grand Champions Cup.

History

Origins

File:VolleyballGrandPrixLogo.png

Old FIVB World Grand Prix logo

World Grand Prix was created in 1993 as part of the FIVB's marketing strategy to promote the sport of volleyball by establishing annual international competitions. It was modelled after the World League, a successful event for men that had been introduced three years before.

The Grand Prix made women's volleyball very popular in East Asia; the lack of interest on the part of the audience is nevertheless still significant throughout the world. Today (2004), the competition is maintained mainly with the support of Asian investors.

The budget for prize money has been growing steadily since 1993, but at a rather slow pace. The figures have reached $1.295 million in 2004 - meager when compared to the World League's $13 million.

The predominance of Asian sponsors determined the first major break with the World League's formula. Most of the cities that host preliminary round matches are located in Asia. A host country may or may not have a national volleyball team involved in the competition. A second break was introduced in recent years: in some continents, teams must qualify to participate in the competition.

Winners

The history of Grand Prix's previous winners is a clear indication of how women's volleyball has been dominated, since the early 1990s, by four teams: Cuba, Brazil, Russia and China. Along with five-times winner USA, they are the only ones to hold a title at this competition as of 2005.

In 1993, the Cubans padded their already impressive record of a gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games by winning the first edition of the Grand Prix. They were also running for the gold in 1994, but were defeated by an underranked Brazil: at that time, the Brazilians had never been able to catch a single medal in any major women's volleyball competition.

In the following years, Brazil proved beyond any doubt that its time as underdog was over. It lost the finals in 1995 to USA, but came back in 1996 for a second Grand Prix title, winning all the matches that made up the Final Four round in five sets.

The Brazilians withdrew from the competition in 1997, and the winner was Russia. But they were back in 1998 for another gold. Russia took revenge in 1999, and defeated Brazil in straight sets to win their second Grand Prix title.

Russia's win in 2002 made them, like Brazil, three-time winners. But the South Americans untied the score by conquering the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009, and, afterwards, also 2013 and 2014 editions of the tournament. The winners in 2000, 2001 and 2003 were Cuba, USA and China, respectively. Netherlands won their first trophy in 2007. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 USA won three consecutive gold medals.

Competition formula

The Grand Prix's competition formula has proved less stable than the World League's. In the following years, major changes are likely to be introduced in an attempt to make women's volleyball more attractive to the audience. Some of the rules that are still in practice as of 2004 are:

• The Grand Prix has qualification procedures. They are not the same in every continent: teams may have to play a specific qualification tournament, or may qualify based on the FIVB World Rankings.
• The competition is divided in at least two phases: a preliminary round, with a system of rotating host cities; and one or more final rounds, with one or more host nations.
• The preliminary round is divided in weeks. Each week, the participating teams are organized in pools, and each team plays one match against all other teams in its pool.
• All games in a pool take place over a weekend in the same city. The cities are mostly located in Asia. Pools may be hosted in countries which are not actually involved in the competition.
• When all matches of the preliminary round have been played, the top n teams (overall standings) qualify for the final round(s), and the remaining ones leave the competition. The value of n depends on the number of participating teams and the format that will be employed in the finals, but it is usually five or six.
• If involved in the competition, host nation(s) automatically qualify for the final round(s).
• The 2013 Gran Prix has seen a record number of 20 teams taking part in the competition. The first 5 plus organiser Japan qualify to the finals.
• The FIVB has tried different formats for the final round(s). Originally, it was a round-robin "Top Four" system in which four teams played against each other and the winner was determined by number of wins, set average, point average, direct confrontation. For some years now (2004), the most commonly used is a mixed format: quarter-finalists are organized in two pools, and the top two teams in each pool play semi-finals and finals according to the Olympic format.
• In the preliminary round, a team is usually given the right to work with a list of eighteen players, from which the coach builds the twelve-player line-up that will be employed in a particular weekend. For the final round(s), only twelve players are allowed.

Appearance

China and Japan are the only teams that participated in all editions of the World Grand Prix.

Results

Year	Final host		Final				3rd place match				Teams IR / FR
			Champions	Score	Runners-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
1993	Hong Kong		Cuba	3–0	China		30x27px Russia	3–1	Brazil		8 / 6
1994	Shanghai		Brazil	Round-robin	Cuba		China	Round-robin	Japan		12 / 4
1995	Shanghai		United States	Round-robin	Brazil		Cuba	Round-robin	China		8 / 4
1996	Shanghai		Brazil	Round-robin	Cuba		Russia	Round-robin	China		8 / 4
1997	Kobe		Russia	Round-robin	Cuba		South Korea	Round-robin	Japan		8 / 4
1998	Hong Kong		Brazil	3–0	Russia		Cuba	3–1	China		8 / 4
1999	Yuxi		Russia	3–0	Brazil		China	3–1	Italy		8 / 4
2000	Quezon City		Cuba	3–1	Russia		Brazil	3–1	China		8 / 4
2001	Macau		United States	3–1	China		Russia	3–0	Cuba		8 / 8
2002	Hong Kong		Russia	3–1	China		Germany	3–1	Brazil		8 / 4
2003	Andria		China	Round-robin	Russia		United States	Round-robin	Netherlands		12 / 6
2004	Reggio Calabria		Brazil	3–1	Italy		United States	3–0	Cuba		12 / 6
2005	Sendai		Brazil	Round-robin	Italy		China	Round-robin	Cuba		12 / 6
2006	Reggio Calabria		Brazil	3–1	Russia		Italy	3–2	Cuba		12 / 6
2007	Ningbo		Netherlands	Round-robin	China		Italy	Round-robin	Russia		12 / 6
2008	Yokohama		Brazil	Round-robin	Cuba		Italy	Round-robin	United States		12 / 6
2009	Tokyo		Brazil	Round-robin	Russia		Germany	Round-robin	Netherlands		12 / 6
2010	Ningbo		United States	Round-robin	Brazil		Italy	Round-robin	China		12 / 6
2011	Macau		United States	3–0	Brazil		Serbia	3–0	Russia		16 / 8
2012	Ningbo		United States	Round-robin	Brazil		Turkey	Round-robin	Thailand		16 / 6
2013	Sapporo		Brazil	Round-robin	China		Serbia	Round-robin	Japan		20 / 6
2014	Tokyo		Brazil	Round-robin	Japan		Russia	Round-robin	Turkey		28 / 6
2015	Omaha		United States	Round-robin	Russia		Brazil	Round-robin	China		28 / 6
2016	Bangkok										28 / 6

Medals summary

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Brazil	10	5	2	17
2	United States	6	0	2	8
3	Russia	3	6	4	13
4	Cuba	2	4	2	8
5	China	1	5	3	9
6	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
7	Italy	0	2	4	6
8	Japan	0	1	0	1
9	Germany	0	0	2	2
	Serbia	0	0	2	2
11	South Korea	0	0	1	1
	Turkey	0	0	1	1
Total		23	23	23	69

MVP by edition

• 1993 – Mireya Luis
• 1994 – Fernanda Venturini
• 1995 – Tara Cross-Battle
• 1996 – Leila Barros
• 1997 – Yevgeniya Artamonova
• 1998 – Leila Barros
• 1999 – Virna Dias
• 2000 – Lioubov Sokolova
• 2001 – Danielle Scott-Arruda
• 2002 – Yevgeniya Artamonova
• 2003 – Paola Cardullo
• 2004 – Logan Tom

• 2005 – Paula Pequeno
• 2006 – Sheilla Castro
• 2007 – Manon Flier
• 2008 – Mari Steinbrecher
• 2009 – Sheilla Castro
• 2010 – Foluke Akinradewo
• 2011 – Destinee Hooker
• 2012 – Megan Hodge
• 2013 – Thaisa Menezes
• 2014 – Yuko Sano
• 2015 – Karsta Lowe

Performance by team

The most successful teams, as of 2015, have been: Brazil, 10 times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014); and United States, 6 times (1995, 2001, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015). The competition has been won 3 times by Russia (1997, 1999, 2002), twice by Cuba (1993, 2000) and once by China (2003) and the Netherlands (2007).

Team	1993 (8)	1994 (12)	1995 (8)	1996 (8)	1997 (8)	1998 (8)	1999 (8)	2000 (8)	2001 (8)	2002 (8)	2003 (12)	2004 (12)	2005 (12)	2006 (12)	2007 (12)	2008 (12)	2009 (12)	2010 (12)	2011 (16)	2012 (16)	2013 (20)	2014 (28)	2015 (28)	2016 (28)	Total
Algeria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20th	28th	27th	Q	3
Argentina	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14th	15th	16th	17th	19th	Q	5
Australia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27th	24th	Q	2
Azerbaijan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Belgium	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13th	10th	Q	2
Brazil	4th	1st	2nd	1st	-	1st	2nd	3rd	5th	4th	7th	1st	1st	1st	5th	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	3rd	Q	22
Bulgaria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	21st	17th	Q	3
Canada	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19th	18th	Q	3
China	2nd	3rd	4th	4th	5th	4th	3rd	4th	2nd	2nd	1st	5th	3rd	5th	2nd	5th	5th	4th	8th	5th	2nd	5th	4th	Q	23
Chinese Taipei	-	12th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	-	-	12th	-	16th	-	-	-	-	4
Colombia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23rd	Q	1
Croatia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23rd	20th	Q	2
Cuba	1st	2nd	3rd	2nd	2nd	3rd	5th	1st	4th	7th	11th	4th	4th	4th	7th	2nd	-	-	11th	6th	19th	20th	25th	Q	21
Czech Republic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14th	22nd	15th	Q	3
Dominican Republic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	11th	8th	11th	9th	11th	8th	12th	12th	10th	12th	12th	Q	12
Germany	8th	10th	8th	-	-	-	-	-	8th	3rd	7th	6th	10th	-	-	8th	3rd	9th	13th	7th	11th	10th	7th	Q	16
Italy	-	8th	-	-	6th	5th	4th	7th	-	-	5th	2nd	2nd	3rd	3rd	3rd	-	3rd	7th	10th	5th	9th	5th	Q	17
Japan	6th	4th	7th	8th	4th	7th	7th	8th	6th	5th	9th	9th	5th	6th	9th	6th	6th	5th	5th	9th	4th	2nd	6th	Q	23
Kazakhstan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	12th	-	-	15th	-	17th	24th	26th	Q	6
Kenya	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	25th	21st	Q	2
Mexico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26th	28th	Q	2
Netherlands	-	9th	-	7th	7th	-	8th	-	-	-	4th	-	6th	-	1st	-	4th	7th	-	-	12th	14th	13th	Q	12
Peru	-	11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16th	-	-	18th	22nd	Q	4
Poland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8th	7th	12th	6th	10th	7th	6th	10th	8th	15th	16th	14th	Q	12
Puerto Rico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	11th	-	13th	18th	15th	16th	Q	6
Russia	3rd	7th	6th	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	7th	-	2nd	4th	-	2nd	-	4th	-	7th	3rd	2nd	Q	19
Serbia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3rd	11th	3rd	7th	8th	Q	5
South Korea	5th	5th	5th	6th	3rd	6th	6th	5th	7th	-	6th	11th	9th	9th	-	-	12th	-	9th	14th	-	8th	-	-	17
Thailand	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8th	9th	10th	12th	11th	-	11th	8th	10th	6th	4th	13th	11th	9th	Q	13
Turkey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7th	-	-	-	3rd	8th	4th	11th	Q	5
United States	7th	6th	1st	5th	8th	8th	-	6th	1st	6th	3rd	3rd	8th	7th	8th	4th	9th	1st	1st	1st	6th	6th	1st	Q	22

See also

• FIVB World League
• FIVB World Championship
• FIVB World Cup
• List of indoor volleyball world title winners
• List of Indoor Volleyball World Medalists

External links

• FIVB official website
• Brazilian National Volleyball Federation official website
• Russian National Volleyball Federation official website
• Bulgarian National Volleyball Federation non-official website