The coaches of Russia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, China and USA look ahead to the seventh edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Grand Champions Cup
Tokyo, Japan, September 4, 2017 – The FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Grand Champions Cup features new talent seeking to create depth for the six participating teams in their build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesAt the press conference held at the Keio Plaza Hotel on Monday, the coaches underlined the importance of the World Grand Champions Cup in the transformation of their respective teams and in the transition from old to new players ahead of the next Olympic Games.
“The World Grand Champions Cup marks an important competition at the start of the Olympic cycle,” Russia coach Vladimir Kuziutkin said. “Everyone who loves volleyball has been waiting for this tournament because all the teams are introducing new members.”
Former winners Russia and China and defending champions Brazil will also give young players a chance to experience top-level volleyball.
“There are world-class teams here like China and Brazil,” Kuziutkin said. “We are humbled to be part of this and I wish that my players will learn from this competition. We will do our best to get a good result in this competition.”
“We are happy to be part of this quadrennial event,” China coach An Jiajie said. “China have only missed this tournament twice in the past. This is a big tournament at the start of the Olympic cycle and there are strong teams here, so we wish to take this as a learning experience.”
“The best teams in the world are gathered in this competition,” Brazil coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes said. “We have a young team and view this competition as an opportunity to learn and gain experience by competing against the best teams.”
Top challengers USA and Korea will also introduce new talent.
“We are honoured to be here in this great volleyball country that organises events so well, gets a lot of sponsors and brings fans to the games,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said. “There are young faces in the team and we are excited to play with the other teams and test the learning that we have already done.”
“We have about 20 new players and part of our plan for Tokyo 2020 is also to test them in the World Championship qualifier and in the Asian Games next year,” Korea coach Hong Sungjin said.
Hosts Japan will go all-out when they face the visiting sides and to improve on a bronze medal finish – their highest achievement in the tournament.
“I have been in charge of the team for just over one year now and we have only started to work four months ago,” Japan coach Kumi Nakada said. “We are building towards Tokyo 2020. We have not had much time to organise. We will play strong teams here and give everything we have.”
The seventh edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Grand Champions Cup Open will be held from September 5 to 10, 2017 in the cities of Tokyo and Nagoya in Japan.