Cairo, Egypt, June 26, 2016 - Finland and Japan, two FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 2 mid-table teams, still in contention for qualifying for the finals, will meet in Egypt on Sunday, in a race to climb further up in the standings.
Head-to-Head
• This will be the fourth World League match between these teams. Japan won all three previous matches, all in Japan, including last week's 3-0.
• These nations also met at the 1966 World Championship, when Japan proved too strong (3-0).
Finland
• Finland lost 3-2 to Turkey on Saturday, ending their three-match winning streak.
• Olli-Pekka Ojansivu scored most points for Finland against Turkey (22). Tommi Siirilä scored six points from stuff blocks, as many as the rest of his team combined.
• Ojansivu is currently among the best scorers in Group 2 of the World League with 100 points. He scored 75 points from spikes, 12 from stuff blocks and 13 from serves.
• Siirilä is currently one of Group 2's best blockers with 15 points from stuff blocks, averaging 0.75 per set.
Japan
• Japan failed to beat Egypt on Saturday (3-2), losing back-to-back matches in the competition after a 3-2 defeat to Turkey on Friday.
• They have now lost their last four five-setters in the World League.
• Japan have never lost three consecutive World League matches in five sets.
• Kunihiro Shimizu scored most points for Japan against Egypt (21). He is just two points shy from reaching 100 points in the 2016 World League as he has scored 87 points from spikes, four from stuff blocks and seven from serves (98).
• Shimizu is currently among the best spikers in Group 2 of the competition with a success rate of 56.49%.