At the 2023 Asian Championships (venue: Urmia, Iran), the Japanese men's volleyball team faced Thailand in the group match and won 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22).
After the match, captain Yuki Ishikawa gave us a comment.
-How do you feel looking back on today's game?
Ishikawa: It was a difficult match, but we won 3-0, so we want to keep the good atmosphere going in tomorrow's match against Uzbekistan. This match is coming up from the Nations League for us, so it's hard to say, but the level will be lower than the teams we've played so far, so we have to try not to lower our quality even in those times. We made a lot of mistakes today, so we knew that, so it was good that we didn't lose a set, but we want to improve our quality a little more. There are four matches left, and I think we'll play against Iran in the final, so we definitely can't have an atmosphere like today, and we need to improve the atmosphere of the match after this...it's difficult. I want to improve it during the match. After this, there is the OQT (Olympic Qualifier), so I don't want the first match of the OQT to be like this, so I want to keep that in mind as I go.
-What about the environment in Iran?
Ishikawa: I don't think the environment is suitable for us, but I think that playing well in that environment is what we should do. I'm sure that the internet environment and food are stressful, so I think that performing well in that environment will definitely lead to good results in the OQT. Also, in the Asian Championships, we will gradually face stronger teams, and the same is true for the OQT, so I think that we will be able to prepare well in that area.
[Re-upload] Comments from Yuki Ishikawa after the Asian Championship match against Thailand ① # Volleyball #Ryujin NIPPON pic.twitter.com/RBGnufKDLh
— TOSHIKI (@toshikit71) August 26, 2023
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