Japan

Host Country / FIVB World Ranking 8th

2008 will be the fifth year since Shoichi Yanagimoto, head coach of Japan's squad, started coaching the Japanese women's national team and this will undoubtedly be the most crucial year for him and his squad.

Five years ago, Yanagimoto picked then young promising players i.e. Megumi Kurihara (23. 186cm, Pioneer Red Wing ), Kana Oyama ( 23. 187cm, Toray Arrows) and Saori Kimura (21, 184cm, Toray Arrows) and Japan's squad took the World Cup 2003 by storm. Building on a momentum from the World Cup 2003, the squad qualified for the Olympics in Athens at the OQT in 2004. Japan had put a stop to the absences from the Olympics and finished in fifth place.

After the Olympics in 2004, Yanagimoto's squad has had its ups and downs; however, the squad gradually improved. In 2005, due to injuries, the coach was unable to pick his best members. Nevertheless, despite the concerns of everyone involved, Yanagimoto superbly turned this negative into a positive, and created a very good team with small players.

In 2006, at the World Championship in Japan, Japan's squad, as the organizing country, was under enormous pressure. Despite the loss to Chinese Taipei at the curtain raiser, Yamagimoto reorganized his team the following day and it was able to realize its potential. Finishing 5th in the Championship, Japan missed an opportunity to win a medal; however, the come-from-behind victory over Serbia and Montenegro (3-2), who finished third, gave Japan confidence and hope.

The start of the 2007 season seemed very bright. Most players who were considered best in the previous Premier League were gathered at the first camp. Although some experienced players i.e. Kaoru Sugayama and Kana Oyama quit the team because of injuries and required rehabilitation with their club teams, the team skipper, Yoshie Takeshita, and co-skipper, Miyuki Takahashi, led the team. The most significant thing for the team was that the most reliable spiker, Megumi Kurihara, made her first appearance in the national team since the Olympic Games in 2004.

In fact, the absence of some outside spikers was the reason for a poor team performance and the goal of the team to be among the top three could not be fulfilled at the World Grand Prix 2007. Immediately after the World Grand Prix 2007 the squad started a training camp in preparation for the 14th Asian Championship.

In September, 2007, at the 14th Asian Women's Championship in Thailand, Japan beat China for the third time in 24 years. That was a sensational moment for Japan to have realized a long-cherished dream. Furthermore, the Japanese players gained a lot of confidence in their volleyball and the momentum towards the World Cup 2007.

With the momentum gained from the Asian Championship and adding new power to the team with a new promising setter, Yuki Kawai, Japan's squad entered the World Cup 2007, the first qualifier for the Beijing Olympics. Yet despite good performances, Japan could not reach its goal - to secure a berth at the Beijing Olympics 2008, and Japan has no choice but to compete at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments in Tokyo in May.

The final goal of Yamagimoto's squad this year - to win a medal in Beijing - is, needless to say, unchanged. The forthcoming OQT and the World Grand Prix 2008 would be simply the first and the second steps toward the Olympics. Recognizing that most participating teams in the OQT are very hard to beat, Yanagimoto and his players will fight bravely in order to get over their first hurdle.

Serbia

Europe / Europe COQT 3rd / FIVB World Ranking 7th

At the 2006 World Championships in Japan, the Serbian team won the bronze medal, which was their first World medal. Before the 2006 World Championships, Serbia and Montenegro at the time, participated only once in the World Championships in 1978, under the name of Yugoslavia, and was ranked 16.

In 2007, the team ranked 2nd at the European Championship in Belgium and Luxemburg, and that was by far the best result achieved in the European Championships. 　The team also qualified for their first World Cup in the history of women's volleyball in Serbia. At the World Cup 2007, the Serbian team placed 5th in the end. During the World Cup, they beat the 3rd placed United States. The team's wing-spiker, Nikolic Jelena, was the second best scorer at the World Cup.

The team placed 3rd at the Women's European Olympic Qualification Tournament and got a chance to proceed to the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Serbia now has a chance to qualify for their first Olympic Games in Beijing, 2008.

Poland

Europe / Europe COQT 2nd / FIVB World Ranking 9th

The Polish Women's National Team recorded significant achievement throughout the 1950's and 1960's, including two Olympic bronze medals in Tokyo 1964 and Mexico 1968. Since then, however, the last three decades were not so successful. A sudden and very enjoyable change came in 2003 with the head coach Ryszard Andrzej Niemczyk. The team pulled off a huge surprise during the 2003 European Championships in Turkey, knocking over the hosts in straight sets in the final to claim gold.

The debut of the Polish team in the World Cup 2003 gave it the 8th place with Malgorzata Glinka receiving the MVP of the tournament. In 2005, the team proved its superiority by defending the European Championship. After a line of success, a stagnation period came in 2006. Despite a vast preparation plans the team was not able to reach the level it peaked in former years. After tremendous losses in Montreux and World Grand Prix it ended up only 15th at the World Championships in Japan.

The new head coach Marco Bonitta was chosen in March 2007. The team was 6th at 2007 World Grand Prix. During the World Cup 2007, Marco Bonitta had to leave Japan for family problems. Vice-coach Mauro Masacci guided the team for the rest of the tournament. The team did not lose their concentration and placed 6th at the World Cup. Skowronska-Dolata Katarzyna was awarded the Best Scorer.

The team ranked 2nd at the Women's European Olympic Qualification Tournament and got the last chance to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Thailand

Asia / FIVB World Ranking 18th

Thai Women's Team has become the best team of Southeastern Zone of Asia for the last 12 years. The team has been the champion of the Sea Games since 1995 and has had great chances to participate at the world level competitions, such as the World Championship, the World Grand Prix and the latest World Cup 2007.

Thai Women's Team has qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament because of the team's success at the 14th Asian Senior Women's Championship. It was the second time for Thai Women's Team to get a bronze medal at the Asian Senior Women's Championship.

The results of Thai Women's Team for the last 3 years includes 6th place of the 13th Asian Senior Women's Championship, 12th place of the World Grand Prix 2005, 4th place of the 15th Asian Games 2006, and 11th place of the World Grand Prix 2006. The team also competed in the World Cup 2007, which was their first World Cup in team's history, and placed 10th.

Korea

Asia / FIVB World Ranking 11th

Korean Women's Team traditionally depends on the quick combination play and mental power. The players are not so tall, but feature the most excellent defense among the world best teams.

The best ranking in the Olympic Games was 3rd place in Montreal in 1976, while in the Asian games, champion in Hiroshima 1994.

In recent years, some young players became the members of the team, which was expected to give an impulse to the team for better result in international matches. Although the team ranked 4th at the 14th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship 2007 and 8th at the World Cup 2007, those young players now have experiences in international competitions.

Kazakhstan

Asia / FIVB World Ranking 16th

Women's Volleyball in Kazakhstan has good traditions. Kazakhstan players were part of the National Women's Team of the USSR in the past and became Olympic and World Champions at various times. After Kazakhstan attained independence, a newly formed National Team representing Kazakhstan started to participate in the international competitions conducted by the AVC and FIVB.

The Kazakhstan Women's National Team won a silver medal of the 13th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship 2005 and has qualified to the 2006 World Championship.

For the first time in its history, the Kazakhstan team appeared in the World Grand Prix 2007 and placed 10th. At the 14th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship 2007, the team ranked 5th and became eligible to participate in the Olympic Qualification Tournament.

Dominican Republic

NORCECA / NORCECA COQT 4th / FIVB World Ranking 14th

At the Pan American Games in 2003, the Dominican team won, for the first time in history, a gold medal to become the Pan-American Champions showing an outstanding superiority that concluded with the selection of five Dominican Players in the All Star Team. Then at the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2004, the Dominican team qualified for the first time in their history to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The team finished 11th at the Olympics.

In recent years, the team placed 11th at the World Grand Prix 2007 and won the bronze medal at the 2007 NORCECA Continental Women's Volleyball Championship. They also competed at the World Cup 2007 and placed 9th. Now the Dominican team is one of the best world-ranked teams from NORCECA and highly motivated to qualify again to the Olympic Games.

Puerto Rico

NORCECA / NORCECA COQT 3rd / FIVB World Ranking 19th

The FIVB has granted the last place available in the Olympic Qualification Tournament to the Puerto Rico team. After the Continental Qualification Tournaments, the final place for the Olympic Qualification Tournament was to be decided by a Playoff between Peru (ranked 2nd in South American Qualification Tournament) and Kenya (ranked 2nd in African Qualification Tournament), however both teams dropped their applications. Uruguay (3rd in the World Rankings for South America) wasn't ready to apply, while Egypt (third in the World Rankings among African countries) has not played in any Continental Qualification Tournaments. In these circumstances, Puerto Rico, the best NORCECA team in the World Rankings after Dominican Republic, has chosen to compete in the tournament.

At the NORCECA Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament for Beijing, the team ranked 3rd and defeated their rival, the Dominican Republic. Sarai Alvarez became the Best Scorer and Debora Seilhamer became both the Best Digger and the Best Libero at the NORCECA Qualification Tournament. At the 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament, the team placed 6th and couldn't qualify for the Olympic Games in Athens. This time, the team is aspiring to qualify for their first Olympic Games.