Jesus Herrera
Havana, February 3 (JIT) - The Cuban men's team will open the 2023 Volleyball Nations League in Ottawa, Canada, the venue during the first week (June 6-11) of one of the keys in which the 16 teams will be grouped.
The Antilleans will face the runner-up of the previous edition, the United States, as well as Italy (4th), Brazil (6th), the Netherlands (8th), Argentina (9th), Germany (12th) and Canada (15th), according to the FIVB website.
In the other initial group of the competition, based in Nagoya, Japan, will compete alongside the hosts (5th) the teams of France (champion), Poland (3rd), Iran (7th), Slovenia (10th), Serbia (11th), China (13th) and Bulgaria (14th).
The second week will be from June 20 to 25 in France and the Netherlands. Cuba's opponents in the city of Orleans will be Brazilians, Slovenians, Argentines, Japanese, Bulgarians, Canadians and the local French.
The last week of the preliminary phase will be spent in Anaheim, in the United States, to play from July 4 to 9 against the Welsh monarchs and the American runners-up, as well as Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria, Iran (7th) and Serbia (11th).
The competition formula is the same as the previous one, with 16 teams per gender. There will be 104 matches in each gender between the preliminary and final phases. Teams will play a minimum of 12 challenges.
The eight best teams of each gender will advance to the final rounds. The teams of the host countries will have their places in the closing rounds of the tournaments, scheduled to take place in the United States from July 12 to 16 (f) and in Poland from July 19 to 23 (m).
The finals will be played by direct elimination. The first-placed team will face the eighth-placed team in the quarterfinals, the second-placed team the seventh-placed team, the third-placed team the sixth-placed team and the fourth-placed team the fifth-placed team.
Losing teams will be placed from fifth to eighth place in the event. The winners will advance to the semifinals to define the candidates for the title and the bronze medal.
