The 12th edition of the World Club Championships kicks off today in Betim, Brazil. Four-time winner from 2009 to 2012, Trento will take part in it and begin with a game against the hosts of Minas Tenis Clube on Wednesday night. The venue is the Divino Braga arena, an eight thousand capacity gym which already hosted the competition in 2013 and 2015.
The World Club Championships, which came back in 2009 following 17 years of absence, have been dominated by the Italians, Brazilians and Russians. Trentino is the only club who managed to win it four times in a row. They took part in the competition six times. This new edition is looking very difficult as the Italians have been drawn in the best group with only South American teams.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach Diatec Trentino): “Our task could hardly be any more difficult, but that’s why we’re here, to have the possibility to play against world class teams and see what we’re capable of each day, one game after another. The first one against the host is already one of those top level games. Minas has a lot of alternatives and the attack as their main strength. But we prepared well for the event and want to have our say in the matter ».
Formula
There will be eight teams representing five continents (North America and Oceania will be the only one missing). They will be divided into two groups of four teams. They all meet each other once. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the semi-finals. All the others will have finished their tournament. Points are the same as in the Italian league, three for a full win, two for a tie-break win and one for a tie-break loss. Then, if tied, the first factor to separate two teams will be the number of victories. Then, what will come into play will be in that order : points, set quotient and the game played against each other.
Pool A
Sada Cruzeiro (Brazil – South America, the holders), Zenit Kazan (Russia, European Champions), Tachung Bank VC (Taipei, Asian champion), Tala Ea El Geish (Egypt, African champion)
Pool B
Minas Tenis Clube (Brazil – South America, hosts), UPCN San Juan (Argentina – South America, wild card), Diatec Trentino (Italy – Europe, wild card), Bolivar (Argentina – South America, wild Card).
Tuesday 18 October
18.30: Zenit Kazan – Tala Ea El Geish
21.30: Minas Tenis Clube – UPCN
23.30: Sada Cruzeiro – Taichung Bank
Wednesday 19
18.00: Bolivar – UPCN
20.30: Diatec Trentino – Minas Tenis Clube Live on Fox Sports HD
23.00: Sada Cruzeiro – Tala Ea El Geish
Thursday 20
19.00: Tala Ea El Geish – Taichung Bank
21.30: Diatec Trentino – Bolivar on Fox Sports HD from 22.45
Friday 21
0.00: Sada Cruzeiro – Zenit Kazan
19.00: Bolivar – Minas Tenis Clube
21.30: Zenit Kazan – Taichung Bank
Saturday 22
0.00: UPCN – Diatec Trentino Live on Fox Sports HD
19.00: First semi-final 1st Pool A – 2nd Pool B)
22.00: Second semi-final (1st Pool B – 2nd Pool A)
(If Trento qualifies, its game will go live)
Sunday 23
18:00: Game for third place
20.00: FINAL
(Game will go live if Diatec Trentino is in it)
PAST WINNERS
(the venue in brackets)
1989 Maxicono Parma (Parma – Italy)
1990 Mediolanum Milano (Milano – Italy)
1991 Il Messaggero Ravenna (San Paolo – Brazil)
1992 Misura Mediolanum Milano (Treviso – Italy)
2009 Trentino BetClic (Doha – Qatar)
2010 Trentino BetClic (Doha – Qatar)
2011 Trentino Diatec (Doha – Qatar)
2012 Trentino Diatec (Doha – Qatar)
2013 Sada Cruzeiro (Betim – Brazil)
2014 Belogorie Belgorod (Belo Horizonte – Brazil)
2015 Sada Cruzeiro (Betim – Brazil)
It’s already time for more emotions with a mid-week round on Wednesday night, except for Perugia vs Latina and Trento versus Latina, to be played respectively on Thursday 20 and Thursday 27.
Winners in Ravenna with an incredible come-back from 2-0 down to clinch it at the tie-break, Modena will be home trying to erase the one-point deficit with the teams leading the pack. The club will pay tribute to Peppino Panini, who passed away twenty years ago. During the warm-up, they will wear the shirts that used to have the name Panini on during the glorious years of the club. They will take on Padova, who’s trying to forget about the great opportunity missed at the tie-break against Trento. However, Baldovin’s men will not fear anyone thanks to the quality of players like the Canadian Stephen Maar or the ex Trento star Michele Fedrizzi.
Civitanova began this new season with great fighting spirit. They get rid of opponents with ease, suddenly blowing by them. And Micah Christenson’s return has further increased the quality of a roster that was already top class. They will try to stay perfect against the newly promoted side of Sora, who has to face all the top teams in this beginning of season. But so far, they all had to work extremely hard to overcome Sora’s Challenge. Last weekend, Zaytsev and co really had to do wonders at the end of sets like true do-or-die games.
Verona went very close to a great come-back in Piacenza but it could also have gone worse. Standing two points behind the leaders, Verona has never lost against their coming opponent of Monza in four encounters. Monza will try to change the trend following back-to-back wins in Vibo and in the derby against Milan. Hirsch and Verhees were superb in attack.
Molfetta is coming off its first victory of the season in the house of newly promoted Vibo Valentia. Giulio Sabbi scored an incredible 35 points in four sets, but no time to rest, he will be called upon again this Wednesday against Piacenza. The latter is coming off a home win over Verona at the tie-break, which gave them their first two points. Piacenza has two super stars who both used to adored in the PalaPoli arena : the Cubans Fernando Hernandez and Raydel Hierrezuelo. They were real idols of the Molfetta crowd just a few months ago.
Revivre Milano will try to bounce back from the disappointment of the derby lost in Monza when it takes on Vibo Valentia. This game looks pretty much like a moment of truth. The visitors are still without a point due to three straight defeats, the first one in Trento followed by two at home against Monza and Molfetta. In the last encounter however, they won the first set and looked in it during the whole game.
On Thursday, Perugia, tied at the top with Civitanova, will try to make it four in a row. It’s not been easy in Sora but like a top team, the Block Devils found the winning spurts at the end of sets. They will take on Ravenna who was close to a major breakthrough last Sunday in the derby against Modena but in the end they had to make do with one point.
Second in the league with 8 points, Diatec Trentino will take on Latina at a later date, on Thursday 27 October. Indeed, this week, Trento will take part in the World Club Championships in Brazil.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 4
Wednesday 19 October at 8.30pm
Azimut Modena – Kioene Padova Live on Lega Volley Channel
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Biosì Indexa Sora Live on Lega Volley Channel
Calzedonia Verona – Gi Group Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Exprivia Molfetta – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Revivre Milano – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Thursday 20 October at 8.30pm
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Bunge Ravenna Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Thursday 27 October at 8.30pm
Diatec Trentino – Top Volley Latina Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
League table
Cucine Lube Civitanova 9, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 9, Diatec Trentino 8, Azimut Modena 8, Calzedonia Verona 7, Gi Group Monza 6, Kioene Padova 4, Bunge Ravenna 3, Exprivia Molfetta 3, Revivre Milano 3, LPR Piacenza 2, Top Volley Latina 1, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 0, Biosì Indexa Sora 0
Azimut Modena – Kioene Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 88 (72-16 Modena)
Roberto Piazza (coach Azimut Modena): “We had a difficult game last weekend in which we spent a lot of energy, but I have a deep roster, we will have a good preparation to Wednesday night’s game against Padova. They proved they had important values, a good mix of young and experienced players, they can make it hard for anyone. But as I always repeat, I look at Modena and Modena has to play with maximum focus, building on the work we’ve done so far. Our fans will be our 8th man as always ».
Valerio Baldovin (coach Kioene Padova): “Wednesday night’s game will be complicated, amost impossible. Hopefully our positive trend will continue into this round. Even if they changed a few players, Modena continues to play brilliant volleyball. We’ll play in a historic arena in Italy, against the Italian champions, we know that but we’ll still give it a fight ».
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Biosì Indexa Sora
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “Even if it might not seem like the toughest of games, these are precisely the kind you cannot underestimate. They won’t have anything to lose, our main goal will be to come in with determination and play our game from the start. We want to get our winning streak going, and Wednesday night’s game is a big occasion not to miss to stay perfect. But I repeat, focus is the key word here ».
Nicola Tiozzo (Biosì Indexa Sora): “Another complicated encounter for us against a well-organised team that has it all. They have world class players in every position. Their main strength has to be the serve, so maximum concentration on our reception will be needed. We’ve been improving game after game, we’re physically in good shape now. We have seen some good attacking play and good reception, but the flow of our game obviously still needs fine tuning ».
Calzedonia Verona – Gi Group Monza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (Verona won all 4)
Uros Kovacevic (Calzedonia Verona): “We’re coming off a game against Piacenza in which we played well with a lot of variations in our rhythm. Now we’re up against Monza and we need another victory ».
Miguel Àngel Falasca (coach Gi Group Monza): “All our positive aspects were underlined in our last victory but there were also so many things on which we can get better. Our attitude against Milan was something important : great cohesion, the players were generous and focused, these are things we need to see again in this difficult game against Verona. We know they are better than the last two teams we played against but we just have to focus on playing our volleyball to try to bring back some important points ».
Exprivia Molfetta – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (4-3 Piacenza)
Javier Ernesto Jimenez (Exprivia Molfetta): “There’s a great atmosphere around the group and I have to say that I settled in very easily from the start. I love to play in packed arenas, you don’t feel as tired. The win over Vibo gave us a great boost, that really was a team victory. Now we’ll try to take points at home even if Piacenza is one of the strongest teams in the league. Besides their two Cubans, who I obviously know, there is much more potential and everybody can see it. They have to make up for the points lost at the start too. This will be another battle, an important game, extremely meaning ful for both clubs. We’ll give everything we have ! ».
Revivre Milano – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Giorgio De Togni (Revivre Milano): “We tried to analyse what went wrong after our defeat against Monza. Reception is an area we’ve been focusing on, together with the serve, another fundamental that has not worked with consistency. The game against Vibo will undoubtedly be difficult, but I am sure we made some steps forward thanks to our last few days of training together. I think we can look with a positive spirit at this coming game against Vibo ».
Filip Rejlek (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “We’re disappointed we lost at home against Molfetta. This was a tight encounter, we played well but in the clutch time of the sets we made too many mistakes. I had the chance to start and that was extremely gratifying. Now we have another difficult one against Milan, we’ll need maximum focus on every play, from start to finish. This is the only way to get back home with some points ».
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Bunge Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 10 (8-2 Perugia)
Andrea Bari (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “Ravenna has been playing well in this beginning of season. They have a young group, full of energy. I know the club and some athletes. They play with enthusiasm, I know it won’t be easy, let’s not forget this is one of the historical cities of Italian volleyball. As for us, we’ve been doing well. Nine points in three games is excellent, we can only be satisfied. But it’s obvious we should never lower our guards, especially now that we’ll have many games in just a few days. This is another game in my opinion in which we have to focus on ourselves, play good volleyball with intensity. I hope to see our arena packed like against Padova, and hopefully we’ll get a win ».
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): “We had an excellent game last weekend, we just needed to be a little more daring. We’ll try to do as well in Perugia. We need that same attitude, because this will be an extremely tough one, especially at the net. If we play with the same determination seen against Modena, we can make it hard for Perugia, but if we find ourselves with a good opportunity, this time we’ll need to find the consistency and strength to capitalize on it. We have to be even more ambitious than last Sunday ».
