Ningbo, China, June 11, 2016 - First competition day results, head-to-head record, home-court advantage - all these make China the clear pre-favourite against Germeny as the two teams meet on the second day of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 Group 1 tournament in Ningbo.
Head-to-Head
• China have won 17 of their 18 World Grand Prix matches against Germany.
• China's 94% winning percentage against Germany is their highest against a team they have faced more than three times in the World Grand Prix.
• Germany's only World Grand prix win over China came back on 23 August 2009, 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14).
China
• China beat Thailand 3-0 in their 2016 opening World Grand Prix match.
• Ting Zhu finished as the match's top scorer with 18 points, 15 of which were spikes.
• Teammates Changning Zhang (11) and Xinyue Yuan (10) also reached the 10-points mark.
• Last season China won their opening two matches by a 3-0 score line, the second match of which was against Germany.
• China's last seven World Grand Prix matches have alternated between wins and losses: W-L-W-L-W-L-W.
Germany
• Germany lost their 2016 World Grand Prix opener 3-0 to United States. They claimed only 44 points against the reigning champions: 15-25, 17-25, 12-25.
• Last season Germany started their World Grand Prix campaign with two losses, including a straight-sets defeat against China, before a win in their third match against Dominican Republic.
• Germany last suffered two consecutive 3-0 defeats in 2011, when Japan and Russia proved too strong.
• Louisa Lippmann scored 10 points against USA.