Tokyo 2020 volleyball – groups we’re tipping for Olympic glory

It’s the second we’re all trying ahead to. All the groups have performed one another because the winners transfer on by means of the ranks to the ultimate match. 

The gamers go away all of it out on the court docket for an opportunity to win a gold medal on the Olympics. 

It’s a momentous event as the ultimate match ends and the winner reigns victorious. 

So who do we predict will win the gold, silver and bronze medals within the indoor volleyball competitors at this 12 months’s Olympic Video games? 

Girls’s Volleyball Match

Professional Predictions

How do our medal predictions stack up in opposition to our group of ex-professional volleyball gamers? None of our specialists have predicted the identical 3 medal winners, although the USA look like agency favorite to take Olympic gold, as predicted by ourselves and two of our professionals!

Volleyverse Predictions Defined

Bronze – Turkey

In our opinion, we predict Turkey will pull out a win in a bronze medal match in opposition to China as a result of I feel they’re simply scrappy sufficient to push by means of to the tip. This isn’t going to be a simple win by any means as the ladies’s nationwide group for China received the gold medal within the final Olympics. Nonetheless, Turkey received silver on the 2018 FIVB Nations League, in addition to made it to the semifinals of the 2021 VNL, in order that they have the abilities to make it far on this event.

Additionally, Turkey has loads of nice gamers on their group this 12 months like Eda Erdem Dündar who’s an skilled center blocker that may make life onerous on the opposing hitters, in addition to their younger gun on the alternative, Ebrar Karakurt. She made a robust look on the 2021 VNL with shiny pink hair and large assaults from each the back and front row. 

Silver – Brazil

This can be a little bit of an lame, simple prediction, however I feel Brazil and USA are going to the gold medal match this 12 months. They’re each on the prime of the FIVB leaderboard and simply performed one another within the finals of the 2021 VNL event. It’s a secure option to put these two groups within the closing match collectively, however I feel it’s the fitting one. 

With how good USA is that this 12 months, I feel Brazil goes to win the silver medal, falling to Crew USA within the closing match. That is going to be a well-fought match with every sport being shut as a result of these groups are each so good. Brazil has made a reputation for itself as one of many largest volleyball powerhouse international locations on the planet, because of its capability to drag out wins in each the indoor and seashore competitions, on each the boys’s and girls’s sides. 

Brazil is trying actually good this 12 months within the ladies’s indoor competitors with strong gamers on the skin like Gabi, Natalia Pereira and Tandara Caixeta. In addition they have a extremely sturdy setter with Macris and a sneaky good libero with Camila. They’ve the expertise and the abilities to play very well, however in the end, I feel they’ll find yourself with the silver medal this 12 months. 

Gold – USA

Now for the primary occasion. Like I stated above, I feel Brazil will tackle Crew USA within the closing match for Gold, and I feel USA goes to win. It is a very thrilling 12 months for the People because the Olympics get began as a result of USA has but to win gold within the ladies’s indoor competitors. They’ve received three silver medals and two bronze and need to lastly add a gold to that assortment. 

And USA’s head coach, Karch Kiraly, needs so as to add a 3rd gold to finish his gold medal trifecta: a gold within the males’s indoor competitors, a gold within the males’s seashore competitors and a gold as head coach of the USA ladies’s nationwide group. 

Crew USA is superb this 12 months with a mixture of skilled gamers coming again for his or her second or third Olympics and newer gamers taking part in of their first ever Olympic Video games. With veterans like Jordan Larson and Michelle Bartsch-Hackley hitting on the skin and Jordan Poulter’s artistic units, USA has a really sturdy assault. It’s going to be enjoyable to observe these hitters go up in opposition to Brazil, in the event that they get to play one another within the closing match as a result of each groups have such a robust offense. 

Let’s see if USA can edge out Brazil this 12 months and win their first ever Olympic gold medal. 

Males’s Indoor Competitors

Bronze – France

I imagine that France will play within the bronze medal match and win. There’s loads of good groups taking part in within the Olympics this 12 months, so it’s onerous to say which group will play in opposition to France, however I feel they’ll win this match nonetheless. This match might be a enjoyable one to observe as a result of it’s at all times enjoyable to observe France play for my part. They’ve such enormous hits and blocks, and simply the correct quantity of smack speak to make the matches heated. 

France has but to win a medal on the Olympics. Even once they have a extremely good group going into the primary rounds of preliminaries, they appear to choke within the event setting. So why is that this 12 months going to be completely different? Initially, they earned the No. 4 spot within the 2021 VNL, so their historical past with event play might not be an element on this 12 months’s Olympic Video games. 

Second, they’ve a stellar group with Earvin N’Gapeth as a scary good exterior hitter, in addition to top-of-the-line liberos in males’s indoor proper now, Jenia Grebennikov. With these two veterans and an general strong group, I feel that France can take this bronze medal so long as they keep centered within the preliminary rounds. 

Silver – Brazil

For the ultimate match of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Video games, I see Brazil going up in opposition to Poland. Each groups are trying tremendous strong this 12 months, so predicting a winner is basically powerful. Ultimately, I feel it’s going to be Brazil that wins the silver, falling to Poland in that closing match. 

Although Brazil is depraved good this 12 months with gamers like Yoandy Leal, Ricardo Lucarelli Souza and Maurício Borges, I simply don’t suppose they’ve as a lot drive as Poland to win. These guys are simply so good and so strong, however their group has already received three gold medals and three silver medals.  

Brazil is a really regular group and an incredible group all the way in which right down to the bench, so I don’t see them having any difficulty making it to at the least the quarterfinals of this competitors. They’ve onerous hitters and good gamers, however I simply don’t suppose their group chemistry is as sturdy as Poland, which is why they must accept silver as a substitute of gold this 12 months. 

Gold – Poland

Final, however actually not least, is the group that can head house with gold medals round their necks, which goes to be Poland. Like I stated above, I feel this match might be a combat to the bitter finish with every group taking part in onerous till the ultimate level. It’s been 45 years since Poland received a medal, which was a gold medal within the 1976 Montreal Olympic Video games, so it’s about time they step onto the rostrum as soon as once more. 

Poland not solely has the drive to win a gold medal this 12 months, however in addition they have the group to do it. They’ve been the reigning World Champion since 2014, and misplaced to Brazil within the finals of the 2021 VNL, so I feel they’ll have some unfinished enterprise they need to maintain once they meet Brazil once more on the Olympic stage. 

Poland’s entrance row can also be one thing to be careful for with veteran gamers Bartosz Kamil Kurek and Michal Kubiak sandwiching the newcomer Jakub Kochanowski. Their mixture of conventional play and mixing up units goes to be an enormous asset going into the Olympics. Additionally, Kochanowski’s single block is one thing that Brazil has to maintain an out for, as a result of it’s killer. 

This gold medal match goes to be tremendous enjoyable to observe and much more enjoyable if Poland’s capable of pull off a win in opposition to the volleyball behemoth that’s Brazil. 

Who’re your picks for the rostrum at this 12 months’s Olympic Video games? Do you suppose we missed a sure group?