From left to right: Ivan Dimitrov, Eva Yaneva, Yarimar Rosa, Juan Carlos Nunez, Slobodan Milosevic, Joanna Wolosz, Jacek Nawrocki, Bethania De La Cruz and Marcos Kwiek
Varna, Bulgaria, June 17, 2016 - The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 Group 2 finals officially kicked off on Friday in Varna with a well-attended press conference of the four teams’ coaches and captains and FIVB Event Director Slobodan Milosevic. On the day before the women’s national teams of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Poland and hosts Bulgaria start their race for promotion among the world’s elite teams in Group 1 next season, the participants shared their thoughts with the representatives of the media.
Slobodan Milosevic, FIVB Event Director: “I was here in Varna for the World League Group 2 finals last year and the team that won here, France, went on to win the finals in Group 1 as well. So “Group 2” is really just a name, because each of these four teams has excellent qualities and deserves to be among the world’s best.”
Marcos Kwiek, coach of the Dominican Republic: “We are very pleased with the opportunity to arrive here early and have a quiet week to work towards our goal – a ticket to Group 1. It is a very strong tournament and all teams participating will be looking for the same ticket, so hope luck will be on our side.”
Bethania De La Cruz, captain of the Dominican Republic: “For us it is very important to be here. We worked hard on the way to the finals and we will do our best to play well in Varna and win.”
Jacek Nawrocki, coach of Poland: “We are building a new team and we are very happy to have made it to this final four tournament here, in Varna, because many of our players are very young and do not have international experience. Each match for us is a chance to learn something new. Bulgaria, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are very difficult opponents, but we will try our best against them.”
Joanna Wolosz, captain of Poland: “As the coach said, we are a new team with a lot of new, young players without much experience, but with each game we learn a lot. I hope that we arrived here in Varna in our best condition. I know that our game against Bulgaria will be really tough, but we will try to do everything better than the Bulgarian team and I hope we will play in the final. Our goal is to move up to the first division and learn from the best teams in the world.”
Juan Carlos Nunez, coach of Puerto Rico: “We did really great in the previous two weekends, so now we hope to make it to the final and then move up to Group 1. We have never done that before, so we will try to play at our best level in order to achieve it.”
Yarimar Rosa, captain of Puerto Rico: “Yes, we did well the last to weekends, but this weekend we all start from zero. It’s only two games and anything can happen. We have been working on what we saw as our weakness in the previous two weekends, so we should be able to play better tomorrow and on Sunday.”
Ivan Dimitrov, coach of Bulgaria: “This is a final four tournament and for me each of these four teams could be the winner and each of these four teams could be defeated. The powers are quite balanced and it is impossible to forecast who will win this tournament. All teams will surely give their best and they all have the equal chances for success.”
Eva Yaneva, captain of Bulgaria: “We are happy to welcome all these teams to Bulgaria. We are pleased to be the hosts of this tournament. As hosts we were entitled to participate in the finals, but even if this were not so, I think we would have qualified. The powers are indeed very balanced, but maybe our experience, our motivation and our desire to excel in front of our home fans will give us the edge and help us qualify to the final and win it.”