China defeated Serbia to win the women's Olympic volleyball tournament
Lausanne, Switzerland, August 29, 2016 – China moved two places up in the FIVB Senior World Ranking – Women after a phenomenal gold medal finish in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which also positioned them at the top of the ranking table.
FIVB Senior World Ranking - WomenChina had a shaky start as they won only two of their five matches in the preliminary round. China’s first big upset in Rio 2016 was when they eclipsed the undefeated Brazilians in the quarterfinals. They continued with their climb to the podium when they beat first-time top four contenders the Netherlands in the semifinals, and Serbia in the gold medal match.
China’s remarkable run in Rio 2016 led to a lot of big jumps and changes in the ranking particularly in the top 20.
Olympic silver medallists Serbia moved three places up to become world No.3 – their highest ever position in the ranking. The Netherlands, on the other hand, had the biggest climb in the top 10 and jumped four places up to No.7 after their fourth place finish in Rio 2016.
Olympic bronze medallists the United States dropped from the top to the second spot, while Brazil dropped from No.2 to No.4. Russia and Japan also moved one place down in the ranking to occupy No.5 and No.6 positions, respectively.
Italy maintained their grip on the No.8 spot, while Korea dropped one place down to No.9 after a joint-fifth finish in Rio 2016.
Meanwhile, Argentina and Puerto Rico moved two places up in the ranking to claim No.10 and No.15 positions, respectively.
Cameroon’s big performance in Rio 2016 merited the biggest leap in the rankings, as they jumped nine places up to break through in the top 20 at No.19, while the biggest drop in the ranking came from Chinese Taipei, which lost 12 places in the chart.