Russia and Brazil to kick off FIVB World League final round

(BEIJING, July 22) -- The FIVB World League will begin its final round on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after completing its six-week intercontinental round last weekend. Host Brazil will compete against wild-card entry Japan and pool B winner Russia in pool E of the final round. Serbia, the United States and Polandw will compete in pool F. Competition concludes on Sunday.

Brazil, which has held the World League crown since 2003, was guaranteed a spot in the final round as the host, but would also have qualified as the top finisher in pool A. Serbia finished three points behind and qualified for the final round as the second place finisher. Serbia was the gold medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games.

Russia finished first in pool B with 22 points and a 10-2 record. The Russians won the 2002 World League and finished third in 2007. The United States won pool C with 21 points and a 9-3 record. They finished the third place in 2007 World League.

Two teams reached the finals from pool D: Poland, which had the most points in the pool, and Japan, which was picked as the wild-card entry.

In the final round, each team will play against the other two in its pool. The top two teams in each pool will face the second place finisher in the other pool in the semifinal matches. The bronze-medal match and final will be played on Sunday and third place finishers in both pools are tied for fifth automatically.

Schedule (all matches are played at Ginasio do Maracananzinho hall in Rio de Janeiro.)

Pool E

Russia vs. Brazil, July 23, 10:00 a.m.

Japan vs. Russia, July 24, 10:00 a.m.

Brazil vs. Japan, July 25, 10:00 a.m.

Pool F

Serbia vs. the United States, July 23, 1:15 p.m.

The United States vs. Poland, July 24, 1:15 p.m.

Poland vs. Serbia, July 25, 1:15 p.m.