Lausanne, Switzerland, June 14, 2017 - Australia and Japan meet for the second time in FIVB World League history Friday in Kunshan, after Japan beat their opponents 3-1 on the opening weekend of the current season.
Head-to-Head• These teams met in the World League earlier this season. On 4 June, Japan triumphed 3-1 over Australia in Poprad, Slovakia.
• That was the first ever World League meeting between these countries.
• Australia's only victory in four matches against Japan on a major stage came at the World Cup, in November of 2007 (3-0 in Japan).
Australia• Australia are ranked fifth in Group 2. Although they are just outside the top 4, they are already guaranteed to appear in the Final Four, as tournament hosts.
• After losing two of three in Week 1, Australia responded by winning all three of their matches in Week 2.
• Australia can win four World League matches in a row for the second time ever in the World League after 2013 when they defeated Canada twice and won against Netherlands and France.
• While Australia lost all first sets in the first weekend, they claimed a win in all first sets in the second weekend.
• Throughout the first two weeks, Nathan Roberts has emerged as the second best spiker in Group 2, at a 59.83% success rate, only trailing opponent Masahiro Yanagida (60.58%).
Japan• Japan are currently ranked fourth in Group 2, but must move up at least one spot in the table to be guaranteed access to the Final Four in Australia.
• After losing their first two World League matches this season, Japan have rebounded by posting four victories in a row.
• Japan can win five in row for the first time since a run of eight in 2014.
• In the last 11 matches, the result of Japan's first set resulted in the same as the match. If they lost, they lost the match and if they won, they won the match.
After two weeks of play in Group 2, Masahiro Yanagida leads all players in this group in the categories Best Spiker and Best Server.