Volleyball
World Grand Prix action in Ankara about to start
Archive
Article Thu, Jul 2 2015
Ankara, Turkey, July 2, 2015. A press conference was held on Thursday at Sürmeli Hotel before the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Pool C games coming up this weekend in Ankara, Turkey.
The Vice-President of the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) Mr Akif Üstündağ attended the meeting together with the captains and coaches of the four participating teams, Belgium, Italy, Turkey and USA.
Mr Üstündağ, who made the opening speech, congratulated the Turkish team who just won gold at the first ever European Games last week in Baku and said: “After only one week since the European Games came to an end in Azerbaijan, we will host the Pool C matches in the first week of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. Our fans in Ankara have always given us a lot of support. I hope that the games will be sold-out again. I wish good luck to all participating teams.”
Belgium coach Gert Vande Broek stressed that he cannot guarantee a win in three games but promised his team will do its best and captain Charlotte Leys added: “This will be the first time we play at this level in the World Grand Prix. We are looking forward to the start of the matches tomorrow.”
Italy coach Marco Bonitta stated that they are 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 will try to take as many points as they can from the three matches in Ankara.
The coach of the home team Ferhat Akbaş said they want the fans to watch some quality games in Ankara: “We want to perform well in the coming days. We will do our best. Our first aim is to play well. We will do the same in Russia and Germany, in second and third rounds of the competition.” And team captain Güldeniz Önal added: “We achieved a great success with our gold medal at the European Games in Baku but now we are focussed 100% on the World Grand Prix. We invite everybody to the Başkent Volleyball Hall. We want to win all three games on schedule.”
USA coach Karch Kiraly said: “There is a good atmosphere for Volleyball in Ankara as we already got to see and experience last year. We will play against three strong teams. We will test ourselves and see our level.” Team captain Courtney Thompson recalled their last encounter with Turkey in the 2014 edition of the World Grand Prix: “Last year we played a close game against Turkey in Ankara and they won in five sets. Another good tournament is awaiting us. We are very excited.”
The Pool C games in Ankara will start tomorrow at 16:00 local time with USA playing Italy before Turkey take on Belgium at 19:00 local time.
The Vice-President of the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) Mr Akif Üstündağ attended the meeting together with the captains and coaches of the four participating teams, Belgium, Italy, Turkey and USA.
Mr Üstündağ, who made the opening speech, congratulated the Turkish team who just won gold at the first ever European Games last week in Baku and said: “After only one week since the European Games came to an end in Azerbaijan, we will host the Pool C matches in the first week of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. Our fans in Ankara have always given us a lot of support. I hope that the games will be sold-out again. I wish good luck to all participating teams.”
Belgium coach Gert Vande Broek stressed that he cannot guarantee a win in three games but promised his team will do its best and captain Charlotte Leys added: “This will be the first time we play at this level in the World Grand Prix. We are looking forward to the start of the matches tomorrow.”
Italy coach Marco Bonitta stated that they are 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 will try to take as many points as they can from the three matches in Ankara.
The coach of the home team Ferhat Akbaş said they want the fans to watch some quality games in Ankara: “We want to perform well in the coming days. We will do our best. Our first aim is to play well. We will do the same in Russia and Germany, in second and third rounds of the competition.” And team captain Güldeniz Önal added: “We achieved a great success with our gold medal at the European Games in Baku but now we are focussed 100% on the World Grand Prix. We invite everybody to the Başkent Volleyball Hall. We want to win all three games on schedule.”
USA coach Karch Kiraly said: “There is a good atmosphere for Volleyball in Ankara as we already got to see and experience last year. We will play against three strong teams. We will test ourselves and see our level.” Team captain Courtney Thompson recalled their last encounter with Turkey in the 2014 edition of the World Grand Prix: “Last year we played a close game against Turkey in Ankara and they won in five sets. Another good tournament is awaiting us. We are very excited.”
The Pool C games in Ankara will start tomorrow at 16:00 local time with USA playing Italy before Turkey take on Belgium at 19:00 local time.