Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 11, 2016 - It is all about positioning in Pool B of the women’s volleyball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Before the start of the fourth competition day, the four quarterfinalists from the pool are already known, but they will be racing each other for a better placement into the knockout rounds. This exactly is the case with the China vs. Serbia clash, which will get things going on Friday.
Each of these two teams has a 2-1 win-loss record and they are placed right behind unbeaten USA in the current pool standings – China with seven points and Serbia with six.
Historically, China and Serbia have met 10 times in world-level competitions with the Asian team emerging victorious six times.
Only one of these encounters has been at the Olympic Games. On July 28, 2012, in London, the Chinese claimed a 3-1 (16-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-12) victory over their southern European opponents in a Pool B game.
The most recent head-to-head match between the two teams occurred earlier this year, in FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016. On June 18, in Macau, the Asian giant achieved a 3-2 (27-25, 17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9) win.
So far in Rio, China started with a 2-3 loss to the Netherlands, but recovered with straight-set victories over Italy and Puerto Rico.
Serbia started with shutouts of Italy and Puerto Rico, but then suffered a 1-3 loss to USA.