The 2016 Intercontinental is now complete. The final day saw some outstanding volleyball being played in all categories.
MATCH SCHEDULES CAN BE FOUND HERE
CHAMPIONS!!
The 2016 Intercontinental is now complete. The final day saw some outstanding volleyball being played in all categories.
FINAL BULLETIN – WITH OVERALL RESULTS
The teams from Russia were particularly successful as both the men’s and women’s teams were victorious in claiming the final qualification Spot for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
In the first match of the day, the Russian Women faced the Netherlands with final scores of 3-0 (30-28, 25-22, 25-10). While sets one were among the tightest sets of the tournament, the Netherlands simply could not get their game together in the third.
The second match was Russia vs. Ukraine in the Non Qualified Men competition. While Ukraine put up a good fight, winning the third set, in the end Russia prevailed with a 3-1 victory over Ukraine (25-23, 25-10, 17-25, 25-19).
In the Qualified Teams tournament the USA women made a mark in history by defeating China for the first time in a major World ParaVolley championship. Having finished second to China at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games and the 2010 and 2014 World Championships, the USA finally took the Gold Medal at the 2016 Intercontinental, defeating China with a 3-1 victory (25-23, 12-25, 25-20, 28-26).
In the final match of the day, IR Iran took the Gold in the Men Qualified division, defeating Brazil in what turned out to be a one-sided match. A close first set – 25-23 – was followed by IR Iran turning it on in sets two and three, defeating Brazil 25-14 and 25-13 for a 3-0 victory.
The bronze medal match results:
Qualified Women: BRA 3 – UKR 1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 5-20)
Qualified Men: EGY 3 – CHN 1 (25-18, 25-19, 25-27, 25-20).
Thanks to all teams, officials, and the organizers for a great competition, in particular: the City of Anji, the China Goalball Training Centre, the Yin Run Jin Yiang Castle Hotel, the Yin Run Town Hotel, Blue Mountain Spring Water, and QH Sports.
Day 6/7 – March 22nd and 23rd
March 22nd scores and tables for all pools can be found here.
Day 5 – March 21st
March 21 featured another 5-setter in the Non Qualified Men pool – and again involving the Netherlands but this time they faced Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, the end result was the same for Team Netherlands, with Kazakhstan winning the fifth set 15-12. The Netherlands came out strong in the first, allowing only 14 points for Kazakhstan. KAZ bounced back in the second set, winning 25-20 but NED fought hard in the third to take that set 25-23. As was the case yesterday, NED battled hard in the fifth and final set, but could not get beyond 12 points as KAZ took the match 3 sets to 2.
March 21st scores and tables for all pools can be found here.
Day 4 – March 20th
Today’s match of the day was in the Non Qualified Men’s pool, and featured Iraq vs. the Netherlands – two very evenly matched teams. The Netherlands came out strong in the first set, cruising through to a 25-14 victory. The second set proved to be a much closer battle, with the teams neck-and-neck most of the way through. In the end, it was Iraq taking the set 26-24. The seesaw battle continued with the Netherlands taking set number three by a score of 25-21, and then with Iraq taking the fourth 25-23. Both teams battled hard in the 5th, and it was point by point near the end. The final few points took some time as teams called time outs to make sure their game plans and tactics were properly executed. In the end , Iraq emerged as the winner, taking the final set 17-15, and the match 3-2.
March 20th scores and tables for all pools can be found here.
Day 3 – March 19th
Day three if the 2016 Intercontinental was a day to remember for the Brazilian Women’s team. Match 46 featured the Brazilians versus China – and what a match it was! Set one was a battle from beginning to end, with Brazil finishing on top, 25-23. The second set was no different, with the Pan Am Zone team again winning – this time by a score of 29-27. However, China managed to respond to the two losses by coming back strongly in the third and fourth sets, winning 25-15 and 25-16. The final set was neck and neck until the end, with Brazil finally taking it by a score of 17-15!
In the Non Qualified Men pool, Poland had a very demanding day. On the only day of the tournament that they played two matches, both matches went to five sets! Against Canada in their first match, Poland fell behind 1-2 in sets, then battled back to take the fourth set 25-23, and the fifth 15-11. In their second match of the day (against Korea), the result was the opposite – they were leading 2-1 in sets, but could not close out the match, and lost the fourth set 22-25 and the fifth 12-15.
March 19th scores and tables for all pools can be found here.
Day 2 – March 18th
On March 18th, day two of competition, what may prove to be the longest match of the entire competition took place. In the Qualified Men Pool, Brazil took on Egypt. This was a five-set match, and ultimately the Brazilians took the win, but it took them 2h12m to do so! Scores were: 30-28, 17-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-10.
March 18th scores and tables for all pools can be found here.
Day 1 – March 17th
The first day of competition saw some great matches take place, including two 5-setters.
Match 5 featured Ukraine vs IR Iran in the Qualified Women Pool. The match went back and forth from set to set and ultimately in the end UKR prevailed with scores of 3-2 (25-17, 13-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-6).
Match 11, in the Non Qualified Men Pool, featured Canada and Iraq. The Canadians showed some strong volleyball in the first two sets, but could not close out the match, with Iraq winning the third, fourth and fifth sets. Scores were 20-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-10, 15-11.
March 17th scores and tables for all pools can be found here.