Verona, Italy, September 23, 2014 - Comments from captains and coaches of the Russia and Thailand teams after Russia beat Thailand 3-0 at PalaOlimpia on Tuesday.
Russia captain Ekaterina Kosianenko:
“We only have one goal and that is the gold medal. We started well with victory.”
Russia coach Yury Marichev:
“It is very difficult to have impressions after this match because it is our first match. With this team we have been together for 22 days. Today it was to test what works well and what doesn’t. We are still developing the team because we have been together for a short time.
“There have been two main changes in the group. One is the comeback of Gamova. With the two additions, we have to adjust our tactics and the way we play. As far as Gamova is concerned, it’s a big psychological advantage to have her on the roster and we feel we have an extra ace to play. If we have any troubles we can rely on her.
“Since we are the reigning world champions and two-time world champions from 2006 and 2010, it is easy to say there is no other goal than to win again. I am aware of the fact It’s hard to win and it’s always more difficult than the tournament before. For any Russian team at any competition the only objective is to win gold so there is nothing new.”
Thailand captain Pornpun Guedpard:
“I am very happy to play with Ekaterina Gamova. She is one of the best in the world and I was very excited to play against her. I want to thank my team for playing with a strong spirit and we learnt a lot from the experience.”
Regina Moroz when asked why she uses glasses all the time except when serving :”They are just a defense for my eyes.” And his thoughts on the match:”It's always difficult to play with teams with such a strong defense as Thailand, it was not an easy match, so this win gave us morale for the next match.”
Thailand coach Kiattipong Radchatagiengkai:
“I would like to thank my players and coaches because they did their best against one of the world’s strongest teams. I thank our Thai fans here and those who saw it live at home. My players did a lot of good things. Fighting spirit, defence and attack. They are very young and I enjoy working with them. We are a little bit far from Russia because they are world champion. We did our best to win the game.
“We will try to control our volleyball style against Netherlands tomorrow, but it will be a hard game. They are of a good level and better than us. We have a statistics man and we will have a meeting later.”