Kim Yeon Koung of Korea tips the ball over the block of Japan's Erika Araki and Miyu Nagaoka when the two teams last met, at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Lausanne, Switzerland, September 2, 2017 - Japan host Korea in the classic Asian derby for the fifth time in FIVB World Grand Champions Cup history Tuesday in Tokyo and the home side look at extending their perfect record of four wins in as many previous matches. The last time the two sides met was at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, when Korea beat Japan in four sets.
Head-to-Head• Japan and Korea have met four times in the World Grand Champions Cup, with Japan winning on all four occasions.
• Japan won three of these four meetings in four sets and one (2005) in straight sets.
• These teams most recently met in the World Grand Champions Cup in 2009, when Japan came back from behind to win 3-1.
• Korea have won the two most recent matches between these teams in all competitions, as they won 3-1 in a Olympic qualifier in May 2016 and 3-1 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games a few months later.
Japan• As tournament hosts, Japan are the only team to have participated in all five previous editions.
• Japan's best result in the World Grand Champions Cup is a third place finish in 2001 and 2013.
• Japan have won their opener in the World Grand Champions Cup in five of the previous six editions, with the five-set loss against Poland in 2005 as the only exception.
• Their last three matches at the World Grand Champions Cup all ended in straight sets, with Japan winning two of these fixtures (loss versus Brazil).
• In the 2013 tournament, Japan delivered the best setter (Hitomi Nakamichi), the best libero (Arisa Sato) and the shared-best spiker (Saori Sakoda).
Korea• Korea will participate for the fifth time in the World Grand Champions Cup and for the first time since 2009.
• In 2009, Korea had their best result in the competition finishing in fifth place.
• Korea have won only three of their total 20 matches so far at the World Grand Champions Cup, a winning percentage of 15%. No other country with at least 20 matches have a win percentage lower than 40%.