Rio 2016 gold medallist Zhu Ting of China leads a star-studded cast of competitors at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in Kobe
Lausanne, Switzerland, April 27, 2017 – Rio 2016 gold medallist and MVP Zhu Ting of China and Tijana Boskovic of Serbia head a star-studded list of competitors for the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Kobe, Japan, from May 9 to 14.
Zhu, who led VakifBank Istanbul to win the title and won MVP honours in the recently concluded CEV Champions League, will lead her squad to win back the crown, after Eczacibasi Istanbul stole the spotlight from their Turkish league rivals in the 2015 and 2016 editions.
Eczacibasi star Boskovic had a stellar performance in the 2016 edition that earned her the MVP award. Eczacibasi topped the podium after a 3-2 win over Italy’s Pomi Casalmaggiore, while VakifBank bested Volero Zurich in a four-set encounter.
The 2017 edition of the Women’s Club World Championship certainly has no shortage of stars, with a formidable cast of international standouts bannering both Istanbul-based clubs.
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia Guides The defending champions have an almost intact roster composed of Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia and Rio 2016 medallists Maja Ognjenovic of Serbia, Rachael Adams and Jordan Larson of the United States. Thaisa Menezes of Brazil will miss the latest edition after she suffered a severe injury in one of their league matches.
CEV Champions League winners VakifBank will also have hard-hitters Kimberly Hill of the United States and Lonneke Sloetjes of the Netherlands, and the versatile Milena Rasic of Serbia. The VakifBank offence relies on the hands of playmaker Naz Aydemir of Turkey. These four players, together with Zhu, dominated the Champions League individual awards.
Top players Olesia Rhykliuk of Ukraine, Foluke Akinradewo of the United States and Fabiola de Sousa of Brazil will head Swiss club Volero Zurich.
Rexona Sesc Rio and Osasco Voleibol Clube have well-experienced national team players leading their sides. Rexona will field national team stars Gabriela Guimaraes, Juciely Barreto and Anne Buijs of the Netherlands as well as the likes of double Olympic gold medallist Fabiana Oliveira; while Osasco will have Danielle Lins, Tandara Caixeta and Camila Brait.
Japan are represented by the home team Hisamitsu Springs and Asian club champions NEC Red Rockets, which both have a number of national team members in their line-ups.
Kobe-based Hisamitsu will be led by captain Chizuru Koto, Risa Shinnabe, Nana Iwasaka, Sayaka Tsutsui and Yuki Ishiii; while NEC Red Rockets will have young outside hitter Sarina Koga and middle blocker Haruyo Shimamura.
Dinamo Moscow will also feature a host of experienced players led by Russia star Nataliya Obmochaeva.
