Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 6, 2018 - Slovenia will take on three of the world's best teams, Canada, Iran and the United States at the Ljubljana Volleyball Challenge tournament held in the country's capital from September 6 to 8. The tournament takes place just before the start of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Italy and Bulgaria which opens on Sunday, and which will feature all four countries.
Slovenia head coach Slobodan Kovac will use the tournament to test his men before the World Championship. "I'm glad that we got the chance to compete against such great teams. This is the strongest preparation tournament in the world at the moment and I’m thankful to our federation for organizing it. However, the result will not be the most important for us, we’ll try to see how we function against high-level teams like USA, Canada and Iran.”
Also speaking at the pre-tournament press conference, Canada head coach Stephane Antiga said: “We have great conditions here in Slovenia to conclude our preparations, before the beginning of the World Championship. We’ll try to deliver a better performance than we did in some of our previous preparation matches.”
USA head coach John Speraw is also pleased his team will face tough opposition ahead of the World Championship. “This is a good opportunity to get back into the competition rhythm after the break,” he said. “We always aim for the top and this time it isn’t any different. I’m happy that all the players on the team are healthy and I am looking forward to a good tournament”.
Match schedule (all times local):
September 6
Slovenia v Canada at 18.00
Iran v USA at 21.15
September 7
Canada v USA at 17.00
Slovenia v Iran at 20.00
September 8
Slovenia v USA at 18.00
Iran v Canada at 21.15
For more information on the Ljubljana Volleyball Challenge, visit the Slovenian federation website.