FIVB Women's Club World Championship set to begin in Ankara
Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu (L) shake hands with Fenerbahçe captain Eda Erdem Dündar during a practice session for FIVB Women's Club World Championship, Ankara, Turkey, Dec. 14. 2021. (AA Photo)


The five-day International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Women's Club World Championship will tipoff at Ankara's Atatürk Sport Hall Wednesday.

Turkey's Fenerbahçe and VakıfBank, and four other teams will participate in the tournament.

Fenerbahçe will compete in Group A alongside Italy's ItaImoco Volley and Brazil's Dentil Praia. While Istanbul-based VakıfBank will vie against Altay from Kazakhstan and Minas from Brazil in Group B.

The opening match between Minas and Altay will begin at 3 p.m. (12 p.m. GMT).

The top two teams from each group will compete in the semifinals on Saturday. The third place game and the final will be held later Sunday.

Six titles for Turkish teams

Turkish teams have so far won six Women's Club World Championship, which is being organized since 1991. They also have two runners-up trophies and four third-place finishes.

VakıfBank has won the title record three times – in 2013, 2017 and 2018, while Eczacibasi clinched the title twice, in 2015 and 2016. Fenerbahçe, on the other hand, won the trophy once in 2010.

The last champion was Italy's Imoco Volley in 2019.