Volleyball Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament - Road to Paris 2024: Preview, full schedule, and how to watch 2023 OQT action live
The Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier is taking place in the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and Poland from 16-24 September, with six Olympic quotas on offer. Find out the key things you need to know below.
Volleyball
The world’s top 24 nations in women's volleyball are set to compete at the FIVB Road to Paris Olympic Volleyball Qualifier.
The cities of Ningbo (People’s Republic of China), Tokyo (Japan), and Lodz (Poland), are hosting the qualifying event that runs from 16-24 September 2023.
The teams are placed in three groups of eight, with the top two in each group gaining qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
World champions Serbia travel to People’s Republic of China to play in Pool A, Olympic silver medallists Brazil and reigning European champions Türkiye will play in Japan in Pool B, with Olympic champions United States facing the 2021 European champions Italy in Pool C.
Read on to learn more about the competition format, the schedule, and the teams to watch.
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournament 2023: Format
The 24 nations participating in the women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments are placed in three pools of eight.
Every team in each group will face each other once, with the top two teams at the end of group play obtaining a quota for Paris 2024.
Nations in Pool A will be playing in Ningbo, China.
Tokyo, Japan will be hosting the games of Pool B.
The teams of Pool C are going to Lodz in Poland.
The first games will be played on 16 September, and the final matches will take place on 24 September.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments 2023: Pools
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments: Teams and stars to watch
In Pool A, Serbia stand out as one of the favourites to claim a spot for Paris 2024. Due to family reasons, they will have to play without Bojana Drča, who was the starting setter, when Serbia won the 2022 World Championships. Captain Maja Ognjenović has struggled with health issues and will most likely join the team later.
However, Serbia remains a strong team with World Championship MVP Tijana Bošković in the squad. Giovanni Guidetti’s side lost the European Championships final to Türkiye earlier this year, so they will be eager to get back to winning ways.
People’s Republic of China is looking to be the biggest challenge for Serbia. Their star Zhu Ting has struggled with a wrist injury since Tokyo 2020 in 2021, and will not be able to help her teammates.
Players like Li Yingying, Gong Xiangyu and Yuan Xinyue have been leading the team in the absence of Zhu. They reached the final at the VNL 2023, beating Brazil and Poland on the way, before eventually losing to Türkiye.
The Dominican Republic are a dark horse for one of the Paris quotas in Pool A, as they have just beaten the Olympic champions USA to clinch their third-straight NORCECA gold.
VNL and European champions Türkiye look like the team to beat in Pool B. Melissa Vargas, the 2023 VNL MVP, will lead the Turks alongside, Ebrar Karakurt, Eda Erdem, Zehra Gunes and Hande Baladin.
Türkiye have been on top of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Rankings since they won the VNL, and they added even more points to their lead by becoming European champions for the first time in the beginning of September.
Brazil have proud traditions in women’s volleyball. Olympic silver medallists Gabi Guimaraes and Rosamaria Montibeller will lead their younger teammates on offense, while Ana Carolina da Silva and Thaisa Menezes are the main forces on defence.
Türkiye and Brazil last faced each other at the VNL, where Türkiye claimed the win in straight sets.
Japan will be playing on home turf in Pool B, and Masayoshi Manabe's team are hoping to get that extra push from the stands to help their chances of getting past the favourites Türkiye and Brazil.
The big story in Pool C is the return of the Tokyo 2020 MVP, Jordan Larson. The 36-year-old - who recently featured at the 2023 NORCECA Championship - has not played with the USA national team in a major international event, since their triumphal final in Tokyo.
The US roster includes eight Olympic champions from Tokyo, including captain Micha Hancock, Haleigh Washington, Kelsey Robinson, and Jordan Thompson.
Italy and Poland will be hoping to fight the Americans for the Olympic quotas. Hosts Poland have their captain Joanna Wolosz back. She could see her compatriots taking a historic bronze medal at the VNL, where Maria Stenzel was one of the standout players for Poland.
Coach Davide Mazzanti didn't include star Paola Egonu in the Italian team, as announced after last month's European championships.
The 2022 VNL champions will rely on the experience of Miriam Sylla and Anna Danesi while newcomers Ekaterina Antropova and Sylvia Nwakalor will be the two opposite hitters.
Thailand’s team took gold for the first time in ten years at the Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship, and they are also not to be underestimated.
You can check the full rosters here.
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments: Schedule for Paris 2024 qualifiers
Each of the three Olympic Qualifying Tournament pools take place from 16-24 September 2023.
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments: Pool A fixtures
Pool A games are all played in Ningbo, People's Republic of China. All times are in China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments: Pool B fixtures
Pool B games are all played in Tokyo, Japan. All times are in Japan Standard Time (UTC+9).
Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments: Pool C fixtures
Pool C games are all played in Lodz, Poland. All times are in Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).
How to watch the Women’s Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournaments
All matches from the Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will be streamed live on VBTV.
In the USA, you can watch the action on NBC-Peacock.