It’s been very entertaining already, but the fun is really about to start now. Men’s pool play finishes up today for groups H, I J and K. But the real story is the women’s elimination phase. The harsh realities of tournament life will send 16 teams home before the final whistle tonight in Hamburg. The path to the World Championship is now a lot clearer for the world’s best women’s teams.

There are 32 teams left and all of them have proven that they can beat the very best. That means there is no easy path to glory in Hamburg. However, there are some paths that look a lot more dangerous than others.

Emily Stockman showed nerves of steel in an incredibly impressive victory over Brazil. They lost all the tiebreakers however and still finished 3rd in their group. Their path may be easier than the 1st and 2nd placed teams in their group though, since they are in the top half of the bracket. Photo by FIVB.

Group G Rains Down Chaos on the Bracket

Thanks to the original draw, group G was always going to be loaded on the women’s side. Joy Stubbe and Marleen VanIersel came up big when it mattered and won the group. Their first match victory over Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat set the tone, but it was their amazing performance in one of the best matches of the tournament against Taliqua Clancey and Mariafe Artacho del Solar that we really applaud. They literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in that match over and over again. The Australians now find themselves in a first round matchup against Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Heather Bansley. That pair entered the World Championships seeded 3rd, but had a lot of trouble of their own in group C. Walsh Jennings and Sweat have drawn Agatha and Duda, one of a handful of Brazilian teams that are on fire so far. Stubbe and VanIersel are also on the bottom half of the bracket and will likely face Laura Ludwig in the second round as a reward for their great work.

Bottom Half of the Bracket Insanity

The draw and the group results seem to have loaded the bottom half of the bracket with a lot of the tournament favorites. We’ve already mentioned the Clancy/Artacho, Bansley/Wilkerson, Stubbe/VanIersel, Ludwig/Kozuch and Duda/Agatha. Add to that a first round match between top American team Alix Klineman and April Ross and the Beach Volley Blog Super Computers pick to win the tournament, Brazil’s Carol and Maria Antonelli. Add to that Swiss group winners Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré and you’ve got yourself a pretty messy path to the podium.

Laura Ludwig is back to doing Laura Ludwig things. That could be bad news for the rest of the women playing as she thrills the home fans in Germany. Photo by FIVB.

Here is a fun fact about the draw. The winners of pool B, Graudina and Kravcenoka of Latvia entered the tournament as the 31st seed. They will play the lucky losers from Russia, Ukolova and Birlova who entered the event as the 27th seed. The bracket was designed to make this a mismatch in favor of the group winners, but it may be a closer match than expected. The winner of their match will play either Brazil or USA.

Top Half of the Bracket

The top half of the bracket has great teams, but not quite as many that would have been considered serious contenders a week ago. Brazilians Ana Patrícia and Rebecca have to be pleased with the way the draw worked out. They stayed out of trouble in pool play and were rewarded with a relatively straight-forward path. From what we’ve seen over the last few days though, they would be wise to not take anyone they face for granted. The Dutch duo of Keizer and Meppelink are in the top half of the bracket and they made the final in Hamburg’s season ending tournament last summer. They should like their chances of making it that far again based on their strong start to the World Championships. They’ll have to get by what may be the hottest American team and a 3rd place team that won two matches, Larson and Stockman in the first round. Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Parades will most likely be waiting for the winner of that match. They barely survived a thrilling match against Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Sponcil to claim their spot at the top of group I. If things go well for both those teams they will have a rematch in the quarter finals.



Claes and Pavan may get a rematch if they each win a few matches in the top half of the bracket. Photo by FIVB.

Big Points at Stake

An early exit from the World Championships can mean a big difference in Olympic ranking points compared to more successful rivals. In countries with competitive battles for two spots in Tokyo, like Brazil, Germany and the United States, losing in the first round and watching a number of your compatriots go deeper into the tournament is even more painful. In the first round, German favorites Borger and Sude take on Behrens and Tillmann. Julia and Karla are the clear favorites, but a surprise loss would send Germany’s race for the Olympics spinning in a very unexpected direction.

As if the World Championships were not exciting enough. Putting them in the context of the Olympic race makes it all the more exciting.

We’ll have a similar look at the men’s bracket tomorrow after the draw is complete.

