Lausanne, Switzerland, June 2, 2017 - The Netherlands will be looking at extending their 11-2 head-to-head record against China in the FIVB World League when the two sides clash in Ankara on Saturday.
Head-to-Head• China and Netherlands have played each other 13 times in the World League, with Netherlands winning 11 times versus 2 for China.
• These teams last met in major competition in the 2009 World League. Netherlands won three of the four meetings, but China won the most recent one in straight sets.
• In all competitions the Dutch have won 10 of their last 12 encounters with China.
• Netherlands have won 37 of their 42 World League matches against AVC opponents.
China• China lost their opener against Turkey on Friday by a 3-2 scoreline.
• It was their first World League match going the distance since their closing fixture in the 2015 campaign, which was won by Slovakia. In 2016 they only recorded 3-0 and 3-1 results.
• China have avoided back-to-back defeats in their last seven World League encounters, winning four of those.
• Chuan Jiang was China’s top scorer against Turkey, scoring 32 of his team’s 105 points (30%).
Netherlands• For the fourth consecutive time, Netherlands started a World League campaign with a win, this time in straight sets against Egypt. At the last two editions, Netherlands also won their second match.
• In their match against Egypt, Netherlands crossed the mark of 600 sets won in the World League (601 at the moment), a feat only Brazil, Italy, Russia and Cuba have achieved.
• For the first time since June 2010, Netherlands could get successive World League wins in straight sets. Back then, they registered three 3-0 wins in a row - two against Korea, one against Brazil.
• Nimir Abdel-Aziz was Netherlands’s top scorer against Egypt with 18 points.