Kozani, Greece, June 16, 2016 - Chinese Taipei will play their first match in their rookie FIVB Volleyball World League season season on Friday. They will open the competition at the Group 3 tournament in Greece.
Head-to-Head
• Chinese Taipei and Puerto Rico will meet at the World League for the first time.
• It will be the first meeting with a NORCECA side for Chinese Taipei since a straight sets defeat against Cuba at the 2008 World Olympic Qualification Tournament.
• Puerto Rico have lost their last eight matches against AVC sides since a 3-1 win over Australia at the 2010 World Championship.
Chinese Taipei
• Chinese Taipei will make their debut at the World League.
• Chinese Taipei participated at the 1986 World Championship, where they finished 15th. They won only one of their six matches, against Venezuela (3-1).
• The team also competed at the World Olympic Qualification tournaments in 2000 and 2008, but failed to qualify for the Olympic Games on both occasions. They lost against Netherlands, France and Canada in 2000 and against Germany, Spain and Cuba in 2008.
Puerto Rico
• This will be Puerto Rico's fourth participation at the World League, after 2011, 2014 and 2015.
• Their best result is a 16th place in their debut season in 2011. However, at that edition only 16 teams competed: Puerto Rico lost all their matches in a pool with Brazil, United States and Poland.
• Victory wise their best result came in 2014, as they won their Intercontinental Round matches against Spain and Slovakia but failed to reach the Final Round.
• Last year, Puerto Rico finished third in their group with Montenegro, Turkey and Tunisia. They only defeated Tunisia in their final match.
• Puerto Rico could win consecutive World League matches for the first time.