Head coaches of Belgium, Netherlands, Turkey and Russia at the press conference in Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad, Russia, June 9, 2016
- Four top European teams are set to collide as the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 Group 1 gets ready to kick off in Kaliningrad.Gert Vande Broek, Belgium coach: "Last season we managed to beat both Turkey
and Russia during the
preliminary round although it should be mentioned that Russia had
already qualified for the Final Six that time so they hadn’t any specific tournament aims. Of course it will be very difficult to repeat that success
again, but I’m sure my team will be a hundred percent motivated. That is a key
element for us".Giovanni Guidetti, the Netherlands coach: "We've lost two finals to Russia recently: in the European
Championship and then in the European Olympic Qualification. Although I can’t say
I’m disappointed. On the contrary – I’m proud that my team made its way to
that finals. Russia
is a strong team but they can’t win always. I hope we
could stop them in this Grand Prix".Ferhat Akbas, Turkey coach: "Our
last visit to Kaliningrad
in the World Grand Prix last year turned to failure as we lost all the three games. But
we had a very young team that time and we have lots of young players this time
too. Our aim now is to prepare a new generation of Turkish players, and Grand
Prix will be an important stage. I expect a very hard weekend for my team".Yury Marichev, Russia coach: "We are continuing our preparations for the Olympics in Rio, but we won’t use the World Grand Prix as the only preliminary stage of that preparations. The tournament has its own value for us and we
really want to win it. Unfortunately I have to report that one of our key
players Tatiana Kosheleva is still recovering after an injury and she will not
play here in Kaliningrad."