Noorderling29

if you're only interested in the OQTs (and not to the rest of their product through the year), you can also use just the 7-day trial twice on 2 different accounts (just need 2 different e-mails) 

I think the judgements of Schippers rather harsh. But evenso, sport is not a popularity contest She was not a very good loser, but that’s not unlike the majority of athletes. At least she was honest about it.

IIRC our 4 x 100 metres squad won two medals at European Championships with Schippers in the team. Not really a regular ocurrence without her. 
 
More generally, before Schippers there was a general feeling that we’re not very good at athletics and never gonna be, with sporadic successes. She proved that a Dutch athlete can be world class, and the level has been raised across the board, with success in youth competions as well. 10 years ago an athlete making it to a semi final at Worlds would be one of the stars of the team, now athletes like Peeters, Jiya and Seedo are bit players.
 
Before Tokyo 2020 I would have considered anyone who predicted that in Athletics the Dutch team could win 7/8 medals at World level as certifiable.

Former double 200 meter World Champion (Athletics) Dafne Schippers (NL). Not very surprising as she’s been suffering from back trouble for years.

Olympic champion Nina Derwael (Belgium) will not participate, due to a new shoulder injury. 

Qualifiers comparison
Country Projected Qualifiers Qualifiers  Romania 10 11 Netherlands 10 10 Australia 9 9 Great Britain 9 9 USA 9 8 New Zealand 5 8 Ireland 7 6 Germany 4 6 China 4 5 Italy 4 5 Spain 4 4 Switzerland 4 4 Lithuania 3 4 France 4 3 Croatia 2 3 Norway 1 3 Greece 5 2 Canada 1 2 Czechia 1 2 Denmark 3 1 Poland 2 1 Serbia 2 1 Austria 1 1 Bulgaria 1 1 Chile  1 1 Japan 1 1 AIN (BELARUS) 1              1* Mexico 0 1 South Africa 0 1 Belgium 2 0 Estonia 1 0 Moldova 1 0 Ukraine 1 0 Uzbekistan 1 0  
As mentioned above the only big country level misses were New Zealand who significantly outperformed their world cup form and Greece who significantly under performed. The only other countries to be more than one away from what I projected were Germany who had a very good champs by their recent standards, Norway who had a couple of surprise qualifiers and Belgium/ Denmark who both underperformed by multiple boats. This could possibly end up playing in their favour with continental qualifiers though of course.

For the top teams, this event is pretty much useless, as they’ll qualify anyways. Why doesn’t FIVB award five quotas through World Rankings, then do an OQT for the remaining six spots. 

Not impossible, but it’s always better to be 22 points in front than 22 behind

Not impossible, but it’s always better to be 22 points in front than 22 behind

So: USA 27 out of 36, Poland 21 out of 36, Italy 24 out of 36.

Mission improbable for the Dutch team, but then I’m a natural born pessimist.
 
But crazy how far the Dutch team has progressed under Koslowski, compared to last year’s disappointment at the Worlds, and the general decline of the last 4 years.
 
Koslowski has created the nucleus of a competitive team, bringing in talented youngsters. Interesting to see how this team will progress in the run up to 2028.

Exactly. This qualification system is a mess. And the match schedule and order of matches will determine which country wins the last Olympic ticket.

Mission improbable for the Dutch team, but then I’m a natural born pessimist.
 
But crazy how far the Dutch team has progressed under Koslowski, compared to last year’s disappointment at the Worlds, and the general decline of the last 4 years.
 
Koslowski has created the nucleus of a competitive team, bringing in talented youngsters. Interesting to see how this team will progress in the run up to 2028.

Poland can qualify with a loss only if they lose to Italy with more sets won than USA vs Germany.
 
USA only needs to win two sets vs Germany and they qualify no matter what is the result of Italy vs Poland.
 
Poland basically has to win at least two sets to stand a chance. If they lose 1-3 the only result for them is Germany win 3-0 which is the least probable out of the entire set IMO.
 

 

Yes, but it’s probably not a long list. Men’s football springs to mind.

I doubt will accept the quota, so my bet is on

Best case scenario for Canada, 5 - 2 victories, 14 points. It’s hard to see not least 2 of the remaining rivals topping this.
If for instance both Serbia and Dominican Republic have 3-1 victories tomorrow, they will finish in front of Canada, irrespective of the result of the Sunday matches. if they win 3-2 tomorrow, one point on Sunday will do to defeat Canada, but perhaps not to finish in the top 2.
 
Either China or NL will be at 4-1, 12 or 13 points after today’s match. So even if the winning team today, loses tomorrow, a victory on Sunday will put them at 5-2, with at least 14, but perhaps 16 points.
Given that the 4 rival teams play each other, each result that’s positive for Canada in respect to one team, will at the same time be negative in respect to one of the others.
 

The path narrows and narrows

I’m not giving up on Canada’s chances here because nothing in this tournament has gone according to script so far 😂

For NL and Chn: win your last three matches, and you are qualified, win two you stand a significant chance (depending on who you defeat and with what score). Two defeats and you are most likely out. Three defeats and out for certain. 
For SER and DR: win both your last matches and you are qualified. Win one and you are still in with a significant chance (depending on who and how). Two defeats, you’re most likely out.
 
Can: win your last 3 matches 3-0 or 3-1, and hold your opponents to low scores. Then hope for the best so that as few as possible of the 4 rival teams end at 6-1 or 5-2. Even then the odds are not terrific.

For NL and Chn: win your last three matches, and you are qualified, win two you stand a significant chance (depending on who you defeat and with what score). Two defeats and you are most likely out. Three defeats and out for certain. 
For SER and DR: win both your last matches and you are qualified. Win one and you are still in with a significant chance (depending on who and how). Two defeats, you’re most likely out.
 
Can: win your last 3 matches 3-0 or 3-1, and hold your opponents to low scores. Then hope for the best so that as few as possible of the 4 rival teams end at 6-1 or 5-2. Even then the odds are not terrific.

For NL and Chn: win your last three matches, and you are qualified, win two you stand a significant chance (depending on who you defeat and with what score). Two defeats and you are most likely out. Three defeats and out for certain. 
For SER and DR: win both your last matches and you are qualified. Win one and you are still in with a significant chance (depending on who and how). Two defeats, you’re most likely out.
 
Can: win your last 3 matches 3-0 or 3-1, and hold your opponents to low scores. Then hope for the best so that as few as possible of the 4 rival teams end at 6-1 or 5-2. Even then the odds are not terrific.

Of course, comments like this also undermine the important work those courts have done in prosecuting war criminals and other high profile international criminals.

Thailand is unpredictable team, they can beat much better teams, but also flop against weaker ones. Random team. 
But this is huge surprise, considering all Pol vs Thai matches. 
In 15 matches since 2005, Poland has 11 victories. This is Thailand's first victory against Poland since 2018. 
 

Premature…