Coach Marichev's change of tactics was key in Russia's win over Japan
Kyoto, Japan, June 26, 2016 – Russia defeated Japan 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-20) in the FIVB World Grand Prix at Shimazu Arena in Kyoto on Sunday.
Russia coach Yury Marichev: The key to today’s game was the second set. It’s always difficult to play against Japan; they have great technique and are very fast, and their defence is really good. So we had to change tactics in the middle of the game and that helped us win. We had to block their attacking course so we could control where they were attacking.
Russia captain Ekaterina Kosianenko: Today, Japan played really well and I’m very happy to be able to win against such a good team. Japan’s defence was fantastic and they never gave up. They were always trying to get something on the ball and that made it very hard for us. This tournament is a great competition and it’s given us a good chance to make good preparations ahead of the Olympic Games.
Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe: This is our last home game so we really wanted to win. In the third set, we had setpoint but the Russian blockers shut down our attacks. We have a kind of losing pattern and it’s important for us to fix this ahead of the Olympics. Our opponents served well and were able to kill our defence with really high blocks.
Japan player Haruka Miyashita: In today’s match, the Russian defence used high blocks against us and we also made a number of mistakes. We started out in a good mood and with a good rhythm; I just wish we could have sustained that for longer.
Japan player Saori Sakoda: I really wanted to finish with a win so I’m sorry we couldn’t do that in our final match here. The coach told us he would decide on his final 12 players for the Olympics here but I tried not to think about that because if I’d thought about it, it wouldn’t have been good for my performance. So today I just tried to work hard to try and get a win for the team.
Japan player Yurie Nabeya: At first we were OK but in the second and third set Russia adapted to the way we were playing and were able to counter us, and we couldn’t do anything about it. They fixed their problems and changed their system and were able to stop us with their blocks.