China performed well in their net defence against Japan
Tokyo, Japan, May 29, 2016 – China coach Xie Guochen skipped on their regular strong service game to focus on their net defence; while Japan coach Masashi Nambu was disappointed, as his team could not get the right breaks in the match with their poor defence.
China coach Xie Guochen: “I'm very happy we won such an important game with Japan. We played passionately and actively. Japan are very strong. They have individual players with excellent skills. Our players played to their full potential and maybe we had some luck. We often use our strong serves but these can also give you a high-risk of making mistakes and that will be troublesome for us. So we did not use them that much tonight.”
China captain Jiao Shuai: “We were well-prepared for this match. We were able to win because we showed our two strengths – block and reception.”
China player Dai Qingyao: “Japan is an excellent team. They gave us a difficult time at many points in the match. We did not give into the pressure and that's why we were able to win.”
Japan coach Masashi Nambu: “We could not get side-outs tonight so that gave us a tough time. China's blocks caught us and Fukatasu’s setting was not as audacious as the previous match. Our passing was not good, so we need to review this because the rest of the teams we will face have strong servers. We still have five matches left. We are 1-1 after two matches with a loss to an Asian team.
Japan captain Kunihiro Shimizu: “We made mistakes and let our opponents play good volleyball. Our service did not function. Our opponents' serves broke up our frontline. We allowed them to play the volleyball they wanted to play. We have to focus on the next matches.”
Japan player Hideomi Fukatsu: “They did what they wanted with serves in between our players. We should do more about service. We want our servers to do well.”
Japan player Masahiro Yanagida: “We did not do well on our serves. We have a lot to reflect on. We should be able attack with our serves.”
Japan player Yuki Ishikawa: “They were able to execute their game plan, while we could not. We should focus more on our serves and we need to forget about this loss. We need to look ahead to the next matches.”