Turkey celebrate their win over Japan to open World Grand Prix Pool E
Long Beach, California, USA June 17, 2016 – Turkey rallied from a 2-1 deficit using its height producing a 28-5 block advantage to defeat Japan in five sets Friday at Long Beach, California.
Turkey Captain Guldeniz Onal: “It was a really good match against Japan. We know before the match it would be a really hard for us because almost everybody different. They attack. And after, we are happy to take two points for us is really important to go final with two points. We will see, we will play against Germany if we will win again against Germany for us is really good after.”
Turkey Coach Ferhat Akbas: “It was a strange match. In my eyes, we didn’t play good. First time in Grand Prix, I was not satisfied with my team play. But in the end, we could win, that’s the most important point. We will see. Tomorrow we have a very important match against Germany. We will try out best. I am happy that we won against a really legendary Asian team, Japan.”
Japan captain Mai Yamaguchi: “The result was a loss, but it was a good match. Tomorrow we play USA and they are the best team. We will play as a team and do our best.”
Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe: “Because of the height Turkey, they had a great block against us. We lost because of that. Tomorrow, we play number one USA and they have height and block as well. But will do our best.”