Tokyo, October 19, 2006: The quest for a World Championships medal by Japan’s women’s team will be supported all the way by the nation’s army of volleyball fans.
The latest sales figures released by ticket agent Ticket Pia reveal that three of Japan’s five first-round matches in Tokyo have sold out, and the other two are close to doing so.
Even one of their four second-round matches in Nagoya has sold out, helping boost overall ticket sales for the women’s championship to over 70,000 with the opening matches still 12 days away on October 31.
This figure is expected to climb significantly next week after the Japan women’s team holds a press conference on Monday afternoon, followed by a training session in front of the mass media at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences.
Japan will play their first-round Pool A games at the 12,000-capacity Yoyogi National Stadium First Gymnasium.
They will open on Tuesday, October 31, against Asian rivals Chinese Taipei and play Costa Rica the next day.
Thursday is a rest day, and the next three matches are all sold out, against Kenya, Korea and Poland on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening, respectively.
Japan will be aiming to win all five matches and take a perfect record into the second round at Nagoya, where their four opponents should include reigning world champions Italy and three-time former champions Cuba, who won the gold medal the last time the World Championships were played in Japan, in 1998.
Second-round play will start at Nagoya Rainbow Hall on Wednesday, November 8, and all tickets have been sold for Saturday the 11th.
Japan have a realistic chance of winning all five Pool A games, as their FIVB world ranking (7) compares favourably with their opponents: Korea (8), Poland (9), Kenya (11), Chinese Taipei (23) and Costa Rica (33).
