Hong Kong, Hong Kong, June 23, 2016 - China are still undefeated in FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016, but on opening day at the Group 1 tournament in Hong Kong, they are up against a tough challenge, the Netherlands, which have shown that they are in great shape lately.
Head-to-Head
• These teams have met on 15 occasions at the World Grand Prix with China leading Netherlands with 12 wins to three.
• China and Netherlands have played three five-setters against each other in the competition, resulting in the only three wins of the Dutch team against China.
• Netherlands' last World Grand Prix win over China came in 2009. China has claimed three successive wins in the competition since that victory.
China
• China are still unbeaten at this year's World Grand Prix, winning all six matches. They won their first nine in 2015.
• China have lost only three sets after the first two weeks of Group 1, the fewest of all teams.
• Coming into this weekend of play, Yunli Xu is the second-best blocker in Group 1 with an average per set of 0.76. Only Russia's Irina Zaryazhko has a better rate (1.04).
Netherlands
• Netherlands have lost just two of their last 14 World Grand Prix matches, both against Russia in this year's edition.
• Netherlands have not lost three matches at an edition of the World Grand Prix since 2013 (5 defeats).
• Coming into this weekend of play, only Russia's Nataliya Goncharova (120) and Turkey's Polen Uslupehlivan (114) have scored more points than Lonneke Slöetjes (112) in Group 1.
• Slöetjes is currently the best spiker of Group 1 with a success rate of 45.9% (105 spikes, 229 attempts).