Bangkok, Thailand, July 9, 2016 - Russia have won medals from the last two editions of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix and may make it three in a row if they win the 2016 Group 1 third place match with the Netherlands. A win would give the Dutch their second ever medal in the competition.
Head-to-Head
• This will be the ninth World Grand Prix meeting between Netherlands and Russia.
• Netherlands only once succeeded to beat Russia, the 3-2 win in the Final Round of 2007.
• Since that five-setter, Russia have won the next three encounters, including a 3-1 and 3-0 win in the preliminary round of this year's competition.
• This is a repeat of the 2015 European Championship final which was won by Russia in straight sets.
• These teams also met in the final of the 2016 European Olympic Qualification Tournament. Again, Russia prevailed (3-1). Both teams will participate in the Olympic Games in Rio next month.
Netherlands
• Netherlands will finish in the top 4 of the World Grand Prix for the first time since 2009 when they finished fourth, behind Germany, then coached by current Netherlands coach Giovanni Guidetti.
• Netherlands are looking for their second medal ever at the World Grand Prix after winning the tournament in 2007.
• Netherlands have failed to win four of their last six World Grand Prix matches, only beating Germany and China in this run.
• Celeste Plak (10) scored most points for Netherlands in the semifinals. Lonneke Slöetjes leads her team with most points scored in the Final Round (55).
Russia
• Russia could claim a medal for the third consecutive year at the World Grand Prix. They took bronze in 2014 and silver in 2015.
• Only Brazil (17, excluding 2016) have won more medals at the World Grand Prix than Russia (13, G3-S6-B4).
• Russia can lose successive World Grand Prix matches for the first time since the Final Round of 2015 (United States, China).
• Only Lonneke Slöetjes (NED, 55) has scored more points in the Final Round of Group 1 than Nataliya Goncharova (53).