The 2010 FIVB Women's World Championship was the sixteenth edition of the competition. Like the previous tournament, the 2010 edition also was held from 29 October to 14 November 2010 in Japan, though the range of venues and locations was modified slightly (Matsumoto and Hamamatsu replaced Sapporo and Kobe in 2010). Twenty-four teams participated in the tournament.
The tournament was won by Russia, who finished with a perfect record, defeating Brazil in the intense final game.[1] Japan defeated the United States for the third place, winning their first bronze medal in the tournament history, and the first medal since 1978, having so far three gold and three silver already to their name.[2] Russia won its second straight title,[3] while Brazil was prevented from achieving a volleyball double of winning both the men's championship and the women's championship in the same year.
Russia's towering outside hitter Yekaterina Gamova was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.[4]
The tournament was played at six venues in five cities.[5]
The tournament was played in three different stages (first, second and final rounds). In the First round, the 24 participants were divided in four groups of six teams each. A single round-robin format was played within each group to determine the teams group position, the four best teams of each group (total of 16 teams) progressed to the next round.
In the Second round, the 16 teams were divided in two groups of eight teams. A single round-robin format was played within each group to determine the teams group position, matches already played between teams in the First round were counted in this round. The six best teams of each group (total of 12 teams) progressed to the next round.
In the Final round, the 12 teams were allocated to semifinals for placement matches according to their Second round group positions. First and second of each group played the semifinals, third and fourth played the 5th-8th semifinals and fifth and sixth played the 9th-12th semifinals. Winners and losers of each semifinals played a final placement match for 1st to 12th places.
Source:FIVB[6]
Teams were seeded in the first three positions of each pool following the Serpentine system according to their FIVB World Ranking. FIVB reserved the right to seed the hosts as head of Pool A regardless of the World Ranking. All teams not seeded were drawn to take other available positions in the remaining lines, following the World Ranking. The drawing was held in November 2009.[7] The rankings displayed in this table are from August 2010.[8]
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Venue: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo
Venue: Hamamatsu Arena, Hamamatsu
Venue: Matsumoto City Gymnasium, Matsumoto
Venue: Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium, Osaka
The results and the points of the matches between the same teams that were already played during the first round are taken into account for the second round.
Venue: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo
Venue: Nippon Gaishi Hall, Nagoya
Venues: Yoyogi National Gymnasium (YNG) and Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (TMG), both in Tokyo
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo
Venue: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo
The final was a repeat of the 2006 final, between Russia and Brazil. Both teams had cruised through the group stages undefeated, though Brazil got to the final after winning a tough five-set semifinal match with Japan the day before.[9]
Russia was forced to rally from a set down twice, winning in five sets (21–25, 25–17, 20–25, 25–14, 15–11). Russia's 2.02 meter tall Yekaterina Gamova led all scorers with a tournament-high 35 points, while Sheilla Castro led Brazil with 26.[9]
The match was played at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo in front of a crowd of 12,000.[10]
