Japan's Sekita (17) and Denda (19) were praised by coach Nambu for great combos
Osaka, Japan, June 19, 2016 - In a match where both teams used many young players, Japan looked more experienced and won 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 26-24). It was Japan's young pair Sekita and Denda who stood out in coach Nambu’s eyes, as they played for the same university.
Masashi Nambu, coach of Japan: We made lot of side-outs and that let us get our rhythm. I used players who were in good condition for this match, and our setter Sekita and middle blocker Denda both worked quite well. Both of them played for the same university team (Chuo University) in past years, so even if they faced strong serves, they could connect on good combinations for points. So I’m really proud of those two, how they performed together.
Kunihiro Shimizu, captain of Japan: Our team had a meeting and our staff shared data about Korea’s weak points. But we knew also if Korea’s opponents' make mistakes, they rebound well. We could win this match, and all our players concentrated well and could score from beginning to the middle of the third set, we were in control.
Kim Namsung, coach of Korea: I realized that before this match it would be difficult to win here in their house. We lost against Finland and Cuba in really long matches 2-3, playing ten sets. Our setter Han Sun-Soo played for the duration of those matches, and so it was really hard for him I think. Kim Hak-Min is thirty three, and Moon Sung-Min had an injury yesterday so he didn’t play today. Our biggest problem was blocking today, with no block points from our middle blockers, it just wasn’t good. And that’s why today’s match was a 3-0 loss.
Han Sun-Soo, captain of Korea: Today Japan played very well, and conversely we didn’t. They prepared well, I think, and perhaps we just didn’t prepare as well.