Head-to-head· Russia and China have met on five previous occasions in the World Cup (including Soviet Union). China have won three times and Russia twice including the most recent meeting in 1999 (1-3).
· China won both 2015 meetings with Russia in the World Grand Prix, including 3-0 in the Final Round.
· Russia's last victory against China was in last year's World Grand Prix, beating China 3-2 in the Final Round after trailing 2-0.
· Russia (including Soviet Union) have the upper hand at the World Championship against China (W6-L5), while China have the upper hand at the Olympic Games (W4-L2).
Russia· Russia and China lead the World Cup ranking (24 points each), both winning eight matches and losing one so far. Russia's best World Cup result came in the very first edition in 1973 when they won the tournament as Soviet Union.
· After beating united States 3-0, Russia have now won seven matches in straight sets in this World Cup, a new record for the team and one more that in their 1973 winning campaign.
· Russia can lose two matches in a single World Cup edition for the first time since 1985.
· Russia had four players scoring over 10 points in their last match against United States: Tatiana Kosheleva (16) Yana Shcherban (14), Nataliya Obmochaeva (14) and Irina Fetisova (14). China had three players with 10+ points in their last match against Dominican Republic: Junjing Yang (14), Ting Zhu (13) and Changning Zhang (12).
China· China are on a six-match winning streak and have won their last five in straight sets. They have won five consecutive World Cup matches by a 3-0 score line only once before, in 1981. Russia (as Soviet Union) was one of China's opponents in that streak.
· Disregarding the score line, China last won seven World Cup matches in a row from 1999-2011 (13).
· China leads this year's World Cup ranking together with forthcoming opponents Russia. China have won the World Cup three times (1981, 1985, 2003) and are one more tournament victory away of equalling Cuba's record four wins.