Nanjing, China, July 7, 2019 – 2018 VNL runners-up Turkey will vie for the bronze against last year’s third-placers China in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League. Turkey lost to Brazil in straight sets, while China lost in four sets against defending champions United States.
These two sides have met two times at the 2019 VNL. China won in straight sets in the preliminary round, while Turkey redeemed their loss with a four-set triumph in the final round.
Turkey could claim their second podium finish at the VNL, after finishing as runners-up in last year’s competition, but China are also aiming to match their previous result.
Turkey-China Match Centre
Pre-match stats:
Turkey - China (July 7, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Turkey and China have met each other 11 times in world level major tournaments. China have seven wins, Turkey four.
• World level major tournaments are Nations League, World Championship, World Cup, Olympic Games, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup.
• Turkey's world level major tournament wins against China have all come with a 3-1 scoreline.
• Turkey and China have met three times in the Nations League. In 2018, Turkey 3-1 won in the preliminary round, while in 2019, China won 3-0 in the preliminary round and Turkey 3-1 in the final round last Wednesday.
• Turkey could win back-to-back world level major tournament matches against China for the second time, after doing so in the 2010 World Championship and the 2012 World Grand Prix.
Turkey
• Turkey lost their semi-final bout 3-0 against Brazil. Three of their five total defeats in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League have now come in straight sets.
• Turkey could claim their second podium finish in as many VNLs, after finishing second in last year's campaign.
• Turkey could set a new record for most wins in a single world level major tournament. They are currently on 13 wins, joint-most for them after winning as many in the 2018 VNL.
• Turkey could lose back-to-back VNL matches for the second time in the 2019 VNL, after losing to Belgium and Italy in the last week of preliminary round.
• Ebrar Karakurt is second in points scored in the 2019 VNL, with 260 total points. She only trails Poland's Malwina Swarzek (421).
• No player has more aces in the 2019 VNL than Turkey's Zehra Günes (25). Günes (0.39) and Karakurt (0.36 per set) are third and fourth respectively among players with the highest ace average per set.
China
• China lost their semi-final against United States (3-1). They now aim to equal their result from the 2018 VNL, when they won the bronze medal match 3-0 against Brazil.
• China (W13-L5) could win 14 matches at a single world level tournament for the first time. They also won 13 matches in the 2013 World Grand Prix.
• China lost the first two matches of the 2019 VNL, against Brazil (3-0) and Russia (3-1). They have avoided back-to-back defeats ever since and will try to avoid it here as well.
• Xiangyu Gong (137) is China's top scorer in the 2019 VNL. Xinyue Yuan (119), Ting Zhu (119), Yanhan Liu (105) and Changning Zhang (102) have also crossed the 100-point mark in the competition.
• Yanhan Liu (17 points) was China's only player with double figures in scoring against United States in the semi-finals.