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ANKARA, Turkey, July 2, 2015 – A press conference was held
before the 2015 FIVB World Grand Prix Pool C games in Ankara on
Thursday.
Turkish Volleyball Federation Vice President Akif Üstündag
attended the meeting with the captains and coaches of the four
participating teams: Belgium, Italy, Turkey and USA.
Üstündag congratulated the Turkish team on their gold medal at
the 1st European Games last week in Baku, adding: “After only a
week following the European Games, we will host Pool C games in
the 2015 FIVB World Grand Prix. Our fans in Ankara have always
given us great support. I hope that the games will be sold out
again. I wish good luck to all the participating teams.”
Belgium coach Gert Vande Broek stressed that he cannot guarantee
a win in his team’s three games but guaranteed his team will do
their best.
Captain Charlotte Leys said: “This will be the first time we
will participate at this level in the World Grand Prix. We are
looking forward to being on the court tomorrow.”
Italy coach Marco Bonitta stated that his squad were very happy
with the Turkish hospitality: “It is great to be in Ankara. We
will try to be better and better every day. Some of our players
do not have much international experience but this will be a
good opportunity for them.”
Italian captain Valentina Arrighetti said they would try to gain
as many points as possible in their three games.
Coach of the host team, Ferhat Akbas, said they want the fans to
see quality games in Ankara: “We want to perform well during the
three days. We will do our best. Our first aim is to play good.
We will do the same in Russia and Germany, in the second- and
third-week games.”
Captain Güldeniz Önal added: “We achieved great success in the
European Games but now we are focused 100 per cent for the World
Grand Prix. We invite everybody to the Bakent Volleyball Hall.
We want to win all three games.”
USA coach Karch Kiraly said: “There is a good atmosphere for
volleyball in Ankara. We will play against three strong teams.
We will test ourselves and see our level.”
Captain Courtney Thompson recalled their previous encounter with
Turkey in last year’s World Grand Prix: “Last year, we played a
close game against Turkey in Ankara and they won in five sets.
Another good tournament is waiting for us. We are very
excited.”
The Pool C games in Ankara will start Friday at 16:00 local time
with USA facing Italy.
Turkey will face Belgium at 19:00 local time. |
