(September 5, 2002)                                                                                          Hot News Main Page

FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship

BERLIN GERMANY (Sept 5, 2002) The Women's Volleyball World Championship now underway in Germany is proving a magnet for spectators and media alike. At the close of the first round, organizers reported that so far more than 156,000 people had attended matches and some 750 journalists from 22 countries had been reporting on the Championship from the first round host cities of Münster, Schwerin, Dresden, Riesa and Leipzig. Host broadcaster, Germany's West Deutsche Rundfunk had 110 people in Muenster, where the German team contested their preliminary round.

Among the huge number of international media, the organizers welcomed some from as far away as Africa, including Elyniah Sifuna Sheveka of the Kenya Broadcasting. Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Puerto Rico were well represented, as well as a large contingent from Asia, including 45 journalists from China, and others from Thailand, Japan and Korea. Organizers said on Thursday that they were still receiving requests for accreditations.

Interest has been so strong in the preliminary round that organizers in Riesa, where the German team will play the second round against Brazil, USA and The Netherlands, have increased seating capacity of the "erdgas arena" venue by 500 to 5,000 places. Tickets for the final round in Berlin (Sept 13-15) are already sold out, organizers said. The second round starts on Friday.

Match Schedule

Pool E (Bremen): ITA, CUB, RUS, GRE.
Pool F (Stuttgart): KOR, BUL, CHN, PUR.
Pool G (Riesa): USA, BRA, GER, NED.

Match calendar (all times are CET):
Friday 6 September:
Pool E: 1600 CUB - GRE;1830 ITA - RUS
Pool F: 1600 BUL - CHN;1830 KOR - PUR
Pool G: 1600 BRA - USA;1830 GER - NED

Saturday 7 September:
Pool E: 1400 GRE - RUS; 1630 CUB - ITA
Pool F: 1400 CHN - PUR; 630 BUL - KOR
Pool G: 1430 BRA - GER; 1700 USA - NED

Sunday 8 September:
Pool E: 1400 ITA - GRE;1630 RUS - CUB
Pool F: 1400 PUR - BUL;1630 KOR - CHN
Pool G: 1400 NED - BRA; 1700 GER - USA (Note: revised times for these matches)

[Source: FIVB, www.fivb.org]