2017 Preview: World Grand Champions Cup to take on Olympic flavour

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Lausanne, Switzerland, January 6, 2016 – When the top volleyball teams on the planet do battle at the seventh FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup in 2017, there will be a double dose of Olympic feeling. The World Grand Champions Cup, which kicks off at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Gymnasium on September 5, takes place in the city which will host the next Olympics in 2020.  And it is Brazil – the 2016 Summer Games hosts – who are the defending champions in both the men’s and women’s competitions.After victories in 2005 and 2013, the Brazilian ladies are the most successful team in the World Grand Champions Cup women’s competition. Olympic champions China, Russia, Cuba and Italy each have one title to their name. Brazilian dominance is even more emphatic in the men’s competition where Olympic champions Brazil have won four of the six editions so far, including the last three in a row. “We would obviously love to continue this series,” is the word from the Brazilian federation.Aside from Brazil, only Italy and Cuba have won the men’s competition.The two Brazilian teams certainly go into the tournament as the hot favourites. The men will want to back up their Olympic victory in Rio; the women will be out to make amends for their shock quarterfinal defeat to Olympic gold medallists China. “Together with the FIVB World Grand Prix, …

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