Nagoya, Japan, October 16, 2018 - Netherlands will meet Olympic champions China for only the fifth time in World Championship history, but this encounter in the 2018 edition will award the winners the top spot in Pool H.
Head-to-Head• Netherlands and China will meet for the fifth time at the World Championship and for the first time since 2006.
• In 2006, Netherlands claimed their sole World Championship win over China, a five-set victory in Osaka (21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-12).
• China won all other three encounters at the World Championship, in 1956 (3-1), 1962 (3-0) and 1974 (3-0).
• These nations most recently met in a world level major competition (Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup) at the 2018 Nations League. Netherlands won 3-1 in the preliminary round while China won 3-1 in the final round.
Netherlands
• On Monday, Netherlands came from two sets behind to beat defending champions United States 3-2 in their opening third round match in Nagoya.
• That result meant that Netherlands have qualified for the semifinals of a World Championship for the first time. Their previous best result in the competition was a seventh place in 1998.
• Netherlands have won nine of their 10 matches at the 2018 World Championship (W9-L1), with the only exception a 3-2 defeat against Brazil in the second round.
• Netherlands' nine victories in Japan are as many as they won at the previous two World Championships combined (5 in 2010, 4 in 2014).
• Netherlands have won six matches at the 2018 World Championship by a 3-0 scoreline. They have never won seven matches in straight sets in a single edition of a world level major competition.
• Lonneke Slöetjes scored a match-high 38 points in the 3-2 win over United States, at least 21 more than any other player on the field.
• Slöetjes total points tally at the 2018 World Championship is now 212. Only Italy's Paola Ogechi Egonu has scored more points (218).
• Slöetjes (22) and Juliet Lohuis (14) are in the top-three of players with most points scored from serves this tournament, along with Italy's Paola Ogechi Egonu (15).
China
• In a repeat of the 2014 final, China defeated United States 3-2 in their first match of the third round on Sunday. On Monday, USA also lost against Netherlands which meant that reigning Olympic champions China have already qualified for the semifinals.
• China have claimed five World Championship medals. They won the world title in 1982 and 1986 and finished as runners-up in 1990, 1998 and 2014.
• China could win six consecutive World Championship matches for the second time in the last 25 years. In 2014, China won eight consecutive matches.
• China have lost only one of their 10 matches at the 2018 World Championship (W9-L1), 3-1 against Italy in their final first round fixture.
• Ting Zhu (172), Xinyue Yuan (112) and Xiangyu Gong (112) have all scored 100+ points this tournament. Netherlands have one player on 100+ points in 2018,Lonneke Slöetjes (212).
• Ni Yan has scored 29 points from blocks at the 2018 World Championship, with an average of 0.83 per set. Only Italy's Anna Danesi has scored more blocks (32).