Ningbo, China, August 3, 2019 – Zehra Gunes and Meryem Boz scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, leading Turkey to a 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17) win over the Czech Republic in the Tokyo Volleyball Qualification Pool B tournament in Ningbo.
The Turkish team made back-to-back wins, setting up the decider with China on Sunday. The host team also posted a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-15) triumph against Germany in front of packed crowd at the Beilun Sports and Arts Centre.
Zhu Ting once again led her team in scoring with 21 points and got support from her teammates Gong Xiangyu, Li Yingying and Yan Ni, who all recorded double-digit performance in their second straight victory in Ningbo.
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Turkey – Czech Republic (August 3, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Czech Republic and Turkey meet for the first time in the last seven world Olympic qualifying campaigns (1996-2020).
• Turkey defeated Czech Republic (incl. Czechoslovakia) 3-0 in the 2013 World Grand Prix, their only previous world level meeting (Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Nations League, Grand Champions Cup).
• These nations met twice in the European championships. Czech Republic won 3-2 in 1995 and Turkey 3-0 in 2009.
Turkey
• Turkey won their first match in this year's world Olympic qualification tournament, 3-1 versus Germany.
• Turkey's only participation in the Olympic Games was in 2012, when they finished in joint-ninth place alongside host nation Great Britain.
• Erbar Karakurt (16) and Eda Erdem Dündar (15) won the most points for Turkey against Germany.
• Cansu Ozbay scored two points against Germany, both from serves.
Czech Republic
• Czech Republic started their quest for a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ticket with a 3-0 loss against China.
• Czech Republic appeared twice in the Olympic Games, as Czechoslovakia in 1968 and 1972. They finished in sixth and seventh place respectively.
• Despite the defeat against China, Andrea Kossanyiova (17) won the most points among all players on court.
• Veronika Trnkova (5) scored half of her team's 10 points won from stuff blocks. Kossanyiova (2) and Gabriela Orvosova (2) also scored multiple points from blocks.
China – Germany (August 2, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• China and Germany meet for the first time in the last seven world Olympic qualifying campaigns (1996-2020).
• China lost only four of their 39 meetings with Germany (incl. East and West Germany) in major world level tournaments (Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Nations League, Grand Champions Cup).
• China won each of their last nine world level meetings with Germany, since a 3-1 defeat in the 2009 World Grand Prix.
• China defeated Germany in straight set in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, their most recent world level encounter.
China
• China defeated Czech Republic in straight sets in their first match in this year's world Olympic qualification tournament.
• Three-times gold medal winners China have appeared nine times in the Olympic Games, all in the last nine editions.
• China qualified for the Olympic Games in their previous participation in a world Olympic qualification tournament, in 2000.
• In 2000, China's (W5-L2) only two defeats came against European teams, 3-1 versus Italy and 3-0 against Netherlands.
• China won each of their last five matches in world Olympic qualification, since that 3-1 defeat against Italy in 2000.
• Four China players reached double figures in points in the victory against Czech Republic: Ting Zhu (12), Changning Zhang (11), Xinyue Yuan (11) and Xiangyu Gong (10).
Germany
• Germany lost 3-1 to Turkey in their first match in this year's world Olympic qualification tournament.
• Germany are hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time since 2004.
• Despite their defeat against Turkey, Germany (7) won more points from stuff block than their opponents (5).
• Jana Franziska Poll and Louisa Lippmann (both 14) scored the most points for Germany in the defeat against Turkey.