GP
Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe: China have a very high block but our reception was good and our attackers were able to hit well between their blocks, and from the second half of the match our serves were very effective. I’ve been trying to improve our serving for several years, but it’s not about how many we practice, it’s about whether or not you can hit a good serve under pressure. That’s what I keep telling the players. China have a lot of young and tall players compared to Japan. Some of the players are over 190 cm and they have good technique and power; at times, it can be quite intimidating.
Japan No. 1 Miyu Nagaoka: We got better in the middle of the match and were able to win. We’ve got two more games to go, so I hope we can continue like this. I just tried to play as normal today. Looking at my percentages, I’m surprised they were higher than usual. My teammates were able to receive well and that’s one of the reasons why I was able to make good spikes.
China coach Lang Ping: Today, we weren’t at our best and the team didn’t play well. Some times were better than others, but some were bad, especially service and receptions. Also, our spiking didn’t have balance. Japan, on the other hand, have good team balance and good technique. In fact, the starting members and the players on the bench all have good technique. They also have experience and their own characteristics so we’ve tried various players against them.
China No. 5 Shen Jingsi: Congratulations to Japan. We weren’t able to play our best and our service wasn’t good, so we weren’t able to put pressure on Japan with our services. We are a young team and we don’t have much experience playing together, so I feel we just need to keep trying together as a young team.
To read more about this competition, to see stats, video and photos click on Grand Prix 2014.
For more articles check out Latest news.
To back in front page of news click on News.
Share your thoughts about this on WoVForum.
