China – team
Team China is considered the strongest in the event as China fielded a team that included all the players who went to the London Olympics while no Japanese players took part in the London Olympic Games except the head coach Masayoshi Manabe.
Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe believed that the age and the experience of his athletes were crucial in the match against the Chinese.
“Our players are very young and at the same time inexperienced which was obviously the most crucial part of our game,” coach Manabe said. “They still need to continuously develop.”
Japanese captain Saki Minemura was completely overwhelmed by the way China played in the match.
“China’s performance was so high that we were actually surprised,” Minemura added. “Now I understand that we should have prepared better. We should train more in hitting over the block and develop other techniques.”
