Post-match press conference after China vs. Japan
Xuancheng, China, July 3, 2016 - China shut out Japan in Xuancheng. The home side mastered a 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-20) victory in the all-Asian Classic derby at the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 2 tournament in China.
Xie Guochen, coach of China: “I am satisfied with the result today. China has played with Japan many times and we are all familiar with each other as we were engaged in the fight during the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo in May. We switched our players in this match to give the young ones a chance to temper themselves. Japan are a tough squad and I hope they will gain better results in the future.”
Nambu Masashi, coach of Japan: “Although we failed to earn any victories in Xuancheng, our goal has not been changed. All those matches can be considered as preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Today, I saw many young faces in the Chinese squad and they will become stronger and stronger four years later. Therefore, how to solve our disadvantage in defense will become our direction for improvement.”
Jiao Shuai, captain of China: “I want to say that both teams were on fire today and China performed better. We have made detailed strategies about blocking and defense so that we can achieve the victory over Japan with high proficiency. I still want to thank all our home fans at the hall and in social media for supporting us.”
Kunihiro Shimizu, captain of Japan: “It is a pity that we lost our last match in World League 2016. China’s powerful attacks caused us lots of trouble. We made many errors in defense and attack, which we should improve later in our training. We believe we can do better.”