2006 Women's World Championship
First women's Final Round spots up for grabs in Europe (FIVB)
06/16/2005
Dresden, Germany, June 16, 2005 – The first of three 2006 World Women’s Championships third round tournaments begins on Friday in Dresden, Germany where four teams – Germany, Poland, Greece and Serbia and Montenegro – will play for the grand prize of two final round tickets to Japan in November next year.

The top two teams at the Europe Pool I tournament will automatically claim a spot in the final round, while the third-placed team will still have a chance to reach the World Championship finale by entering a playoff for one ticket involving the third-placed team from the other two tournaments.

For Germany (ranked ninth in the world) and Poland (10th) this is their first appearance in the 2006 World Championships while Greece (13th) started in the second round and advanced to the third round by winning their tournament in Athens. Serbia and Montenegro (28), meanwhile, are in the middle of a dream run having finished second in their opening first round tournament and then first in their second round tournament in Croatia. If they reach the final round from this tournament it would top a fairytale story.

At the opening press conference of the tournament in Dresden, all four coaches Hee Wan Lee (Germany), Andrzej Niemczyk (Poland), Zoran Terzic (Serbia & Montenegro) and Dimitri Andreopoulos (Greece) were all excited about the opportunity to play for a final round berth.
Pic: The head coaches at a press conference prior to the tournament (from left to right): Zoran Terzic (Serbia & Montenegro), Dmitri Andreopoulos (Greece), Andrzej Niemczyk (Poland) and Hee Wan Lee (Germany).
Hee Wan Lee (Germany): "It will be a difficult task to qualify for the World Championships in Japan, but we shall try our best. Our first match against Serbia & Montenegro on Friday will be especially difficult, because they have a very good team. Although the players are still very young, many of them are playing in foreign countries so they are very experienced. We must play at a high level to beat them."

Andrzej Niemczyk (Poland): "We came to Dresden to qualify for Japan, that's our aim. If it wasn't we wouldn't have to come to Dresden."

Dimitri Andreopoulos (Greece): "For us it was a surprise to make it to Dresden, but we played a very good second round tournament in Athens. We enjoy being here in Dresden with such good teams and want to do our best."

Zoran Terzic (Serbia & Montenegro): "Poland and Germany, the reigning 2003 European medallists, are the favourites. But I think we are in with a chance, if we play well. We want to make Japan! We defeated Germany at the tournament in Courmayeur two weeks ago, but that was just a friendly event and not a World Championship tournament. And - Angelina Gruen did not play..."

In the other two third round tournaments, Russia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic will play in Moscow from July 1-3 while Turkey, Netherlands, Ukraine and Belgium will play in Ankara from August 5-7.
(Released by FIVB)