Coaches
As they have swept three major titles in about one year – starting with the 2012 London Olympics to continue with this year’s FIVB World League and CEV Volleyball European Championship – Russia are the “hottest” favourite to win gold also at the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Grand Champions Cup that will get underway on Tuesday at Kyoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
That said, Russia’s coach Andrey Voronkov does not underestimate the challenge ahead:
“The very best teams in the world have come together here in Japan for this edition of the World Grand Champions Cup so this means that we will play five difficult, though interesting matches. We did not have much time to prepare for this tournament because we have a very tight schedule in our national league, so this competition will turn into a challenge right from the start,” he said.
On Tuesday Russia will open the tournament going for a remake of this year’s European final with Italy. Quite surprisingly Russia is making their first appearance in the competition whose first edition was held in 1993.
Russia’s first opponent in the tournament will be Italy whose mentor Mauro Berruto did also not have any chance to work with his players prior to the start of the competition.
“They played their last game in the national league only four days ago and this was the first time I got to meet my players at the airport and not in the gym,” he joked. “However, we are extremely motivated and want to show that we deserved the wild-card we received from FIVB and the organizers. This competition is a unique opportunity for us to see where we stand as we play the world’s volleyball elite. We have a young group that has been improving recently and this tournament is another step on our way to the World Championship coming up next year in Poland and, of course, to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,” Berruto added.
Triple world champions Brazil are another strong contender for the medals as the players mentored by Bernardo Rezende will try to prolong their winning series in the competition after topping the charts in 2005 as well as in 2009 (their first victory dating back to 1997).
“We also did not have much time to prepare for this tournament as we only had two weeks to work all together back home in Brazil,” Rezende said. “This competition is a good opportunity for us to test some young players and to continue with the development of our team. I think Russia is the pre-favourite of this tournament and Italy has been strong as well in recent times. I would also watch out for Iran because they have been improving a lot over the last couple of years” the Brazilian mentor added.
On Tuesday Brazil will play Iran in their first game at Kyoto Prefectural Gymnasium and the Asian champions look forward to upsetting the South American giant.
“We are very pleased with the opportunity to play this tournament,” said their legendary mentor Julio Velasco. “We have been working hard to make it to the world’s elite and finally we can say that here we got the opportunity to play the best teams in the world Two years ago we won the Asian Championship for the first time and we got the right to play the World Cup here in Japan. We performed quite well and since then we have not stopped working hard so as to progress as much as we can. My young players are very motivated and of course very happy to be here. Two months ago we won the Asian Championship for a second time and this way we got the possibility to join this competition that everyone has been very much looking forward to.”
This is Iran’s second appearance in the Grand Champions Cup after they finished in fifth place four years ago.
The hosts of Japan are also in the spotlight especially after their countrywomen finished their campaign on Sunday with a bronze medal to cement their comeback to the top. This year the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) decided to go for a major change and for the very first time they appointed a foreign-born coach to steer the team. US American Gary Sato has Japanese roots but does not speak Japanese at all.
“I would like to thank FIVB, the Japan Volleyball Association and NTV for putting all this together,” he said while addressing the many media in attendance at the Kyoto Tokyu Hotel. “This tournament is an opportunity and also a challenge at the same time for our team.
On Tuesday the home heroes will open their campaign playing NORCECA Champions USA. Thousands of fans shall be in attendance as Kyoto is welcoming an international volleyball tournament for the first time in 24 years.
“We have seen Team Japan play and were very impressed,” said USA head coach John Speraw.
To read more news from this competition click on World Grand Champions Cup 2013 M
For more similar articles check out Latest news.
To back in front page of news click on News.
