Volleyball as a sport is gaining a lot of traction lately, to the extent of challenging football, rugby and basketball in terms of popularity. The fact that it is also played as beach volleyball has over time captured fans’ attention and at the moment it is no longer a surprise having huge crowds following the game.
The growth of the game has come with the emergence of some of the best players to ever grace the game. It is estimated there are about 800 million volleyball players playing their trades across various leagues in the world.
Not all of these players get to play at the big stage, and not even an eighth of them gets to reach the recognition that would come with playing at the biggest volleyball venues and stages.
However, in volleyball, as it gets with most other sports, especially when it comes to staking our money, we all need the best reference site for sports predictions and betting and such is found well packaged on SportyTrader.
So, who are some of the top players to watch at the moment in this game?
Wallace de Souza: Brazilian de Souza will always come to mind when listing the few male volleyball players who have reached the highest peaks of the game. In the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, he was among the top stars who delivered the Gold medal for the home team in volleyball. He was deservedly named the best in his position at the competition, a crown that he earned and very few would argue that he didn’t merit. At 35, he remains energetic and his success is not only at the national team, he has conquered club action in Brazil and Turkey as well, winning titles with Sada Cruzeiro and Spor Toto in the two countries respectively.
Wilfredo Leon: One of the top volleyball players who put Cuba on the map is Wilfredo. An epitome of energetic performances, it is always a sight to behold, seeing this great server do his hops. At one point, his servings were rated at an electric speed of 130 km per hour. That’s just about him serving; when spiking he is any opposing team’s worst nightmare. Wilfredo’s international career has seen him play for two nations. At the moment he plays for the Polish team, but between 2007 and 2012 he was turning out for the Cuban national team. A silver medalist in the 2010 World Championships, Wilfredo, 29, currently plays club volleyball for Sir Safety Perugia.
Maxim Mikhaylov: Russian opposite hitter Maxim Mikhaylov is the highest-rated volleyball player as per the September 2022 ratings, and remains a key player to watch. At 34, there are really no signs of the Zenit Kazan player slowing down. His decorated profile at the moment has the 2012 Olympic Games Gold Medal, 2020 Olympic Games Silver Medal, 2008 Olympic Games Bronze Medal, and 2011 World Championships Gold Medal and he is also a two-time European champion in 2013 and 2017. He also has multiple titles at the club level and definitely remains a major attraction as far as the game of volleyball is concerned.
1 comment
FIVB Women’s World Championships Competition Rules. I can understand how Phase One worked and why co- host nations were given preferential seeding as that is done in most FIVB events. I also understand how Phase Two worked by not playing the 3 teams you had already played in Phase One but still carrying those results into Phase Two. But now we get to the knock-out Quarter Finals and your are playing AGAIN the same teams you just played over the last week – that is a##inine! The first place team in Pool A should be playing the fourth place team in Pool B and visa versa AND the second place team in Pool B should be playing the third place team from Pool A and visa versa. If it had something to do with travel then give them another day off – your old one host World Championshps were a joke as they were absolute marathons with multiple overuse injuries to players – 8 team pools – play every day – then directly into playoffs – those were terrible tournaments. Absolutely no regard for the health of the players. So I was flabbergasted to find out that in this year’s tounament where there were rest days all over the place, which was great for the players, yet in the sudden death Quarter Finals you are playing the same teams again that you just played – frankly that’s moronic!
Dale Ohman (long-time FIVB fan and retired career volleyball coach)