The women’s volleyball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics should be fun, competitive with the No. 1 ranked team in the world only having the fourth-best odds to win Gold.
Of the top five teams odds wise, they have won the 2019 World Cup, the 2018 World Championships, the last four Olympic gold medals, three silvers, and a bronze. And the fourth-place finisher at the 2016 Olympics, the Netherlands, didn’t even qualify this time around.
China Favored to Win Gold
China is ranked No. 3 in the latest FIVB World Rankings but they are favored to win gold in Tokyo at +225. They won the 2019 World Cup which was a round-robin format against 11 other teams. They swept the United States 3-0 and Zhu Ting was named Most Valuable Player with Ding Xia as the Best Setter and Wang Megjie as the Best Libero.
All three of those players are back in 2020 They also led China to the title at the 2016 Olympics in Rio with a finals win over Serbia. Ting was the MVP of the 2016 Olympics as well and has established herself as one of the most dominant players in the world.
China fell in the 2018 World Championships so they can be defeated. They lost in the semifinals to Italy and bounced back to beat Netherlands 3-0 for bronze.
Speaking of Italy, the 2018 World Championship runners up have the second-best odds this time around at +255. They have not medaled at the last four Olympics and didn’t finish in the top five at the 2019 World Cup. Italy enters the tournament ranked No. 9 in the world.
Serbia has the next best odds at +275. They are ranked No. 11 in the world coming of a disappointing 2019 season. However, the Serbians won the 2018 World Championships as they beat the Netherlands in the semifinals and knocked off Italy 3-2 in the final. Serbia took silver at the 2016 Olympics and have the experience to make a deep run in Tokyo.
Men’s Volleyball Summer Olympics Preview
The United States Taking Balanced Roster to Tokyo
Legendary men’s player Karch Kiraly is back to coach Team USA for the third straight Olympics, the second time as head coach. The Americans have never won gold at an Olympics with silvers in 1984, 2008, and 2012. Kiraly led them to a bronze medal in 2016 with a win over the Netherlands.
Team USA is +300 to grab that elusive gold this summer. They finished second in the 2019 World Cup and sixth in the 2018 World Championships. Team USA has posted an impressive run to prepare for the Olympics in the FIVB Nations League but did fall to China 3-0 on June 20.
Kiraly is taking eight rookies to Tokyo including libero Justin Wong-Orantes who played at the University of Nebraska and middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu who played at the University of Texas. This will be the third Olympics for middle blockers Akinradewo Gunderson and Jordan Larson. Kim Hill was named best spiker and MVP at the 2014 WChamps and the best spiker at the 2019 World Cup.
Brazil the Best Dark Horse Option
It is weird to call the No. 2 ranked team in the world a dark horse, but Brazil has the fifth-best odds at +1000 to win gold. They didn’t medal in 2016 but won gold in 2012 and 2008 with a fourth-place finish in 2004. They are also in the easier group for the first round and should have a nice seed in the quarterfinals.
Softball Odds and Picks for Tokyo Olympics
Format and Groups
There are two groups of six at the Olympics for round-robin play with the top four from each group making the quarterfinals. The final round is single elimination.
Group A features host Japan along with Brazil (No. 2), Dominican Republic (No. 6), Serbia (No. 11), South Korea (No. 14), and Kenya. Group B includes the United States (No. 1), China (No. 3), Turkey (No. 4), Russia (No. 7), Italy (No. 9), and Argentina (No. 17).
Group play begins on July 25 with the quarterfinals slated to start August 4. The semifinals are on August 6 with the medal games on August 8.
Women’s Volleyball Summer Olympics Betting Odds
China +225
Italy +255
Serbia +275
USA +300
Brazil +1000
Turkey +3100
Russia +3500
Japan +5000
Dominican Republic +8000
South Korea +40000
Argentina +600000
Kenya +900000
Read our Great Britain Summer Olympics preview and predictions.
