Paola Egonu played an important role in Italy's win over Kazakhstan
Tokyo, Japan, May 22, 2016 - Kazakhstan coach Vyacheslav Shapran said his team was lucky to get to Japan, and will now focus on the next Olympics, while Italian coach Marco Bonitta said it had been a good tournament for his team.
Italy coach Marco Bonitta - “It was good to win the last match. It has been a good tournament overall. We won six matches. Now we will begin to think about the Rio Olympics.”
Kazakhstan coach Vyacheslav Shapran - “Looking back we came here as an outsider. We had no wins. We barely made it to this OQT. Only because China won (World Cup) there was one space open and it was us.”
“We did not have enough time to prepare. Our players do not have much experience. I hope the current players will get better so they can develop new weapons.”
Italy player Christina Chirichella - “We had already secured the Olympic ticket, so this match did not hold much significance. We kept our concentration. Our blocks and defense were good.”
Kazakhstan captain Radmila Beresneva - “We can't go to Rio. We will wait for the next Olympics. There will be more competitions coming up. We will try to get more experience for the next Olympics.”