Lausanne, Switzerland, September 9, 2017 – Both Russia and Korea have lost any chances at winning medals at the 2017 FIVB Women's World Grand Champions Cup in Japan. As they meet each other on the last competition day, the Asian team does not even have a shot at moving up from bottom fifth in the standings. Sunday’s match between Korea and Russia will be their third encounter in the history of the World Grand Champions Cup.
Head-to-Head
• Korea and Russia will meet for the third time at the World Grand Champions Cup.
• Russia won both previous encounters in the competition, in 1997 and 2001, both in straight sets.
• Their most recent meeting came at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Russia won 3-1 in the preliminary round.
Korea
• Korea have yet to claim their first win at the 2017 World Grand Champions Cup.
• In their four previous participations they only failed to win a single match in 1997.
• Korea's last win was a 3-2 victory against Thailand in 2009. This is also the last match in which they won a set.
• No team has ever lost all five matches without claiming a single set. Korea lost all five matches in 1997, but won one set.
Russia
• Russia could lose three matches in a row. They finished the 2013 World Grand Champions Cup also with three defeats.
• They have never suffered two consecutive straight-set defeats.
• The last time Russia won a match in straight sets was against Korea in 2001.
• Nataliya Goncharova leads her team in scoring with 72 points, four more than Tatiana Kosheleva.