Aguascalientes, Mexico, July 20, 2019 - Japan progressed to the gold medal match of the twentieth edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship beating Russia 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 25-13, 18-25, 15-12) in the semifinals at Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Aihara Noboru, coach of Japan: “I see it as a miracle, we are the shortest team here and today our opponent is really tall. Passion is our team’s most valuable asset; our desire was stronger than Russia´s. Japan needs to keep going, there is one match left and we will play with the same energy. Everyone needs physical and mental rest from tonight’s performance.”
Soga Haruna, top scorer of Japan: “We were not afraid of anything, we just wanted to fight back and win. Japan committed many mistakes, but we gave all energy and desire because we didn’t want to regret anything, our hearts were beating real fast. The team was united as one, playing together and battling hard together. Tomorrow we will go out to win the gold.”
Japan's Soga Haruna's euphoric celebration winning the WU20 World Championship semifinal against Russia
Igor Kurnosov, coach of Russia: “Statistically we made more mistakes than Japan, our own unforced errors cost us the loss and Japan played very clean. Our opponent limited our performance, they didn´t allow us to play. Our last match is a medal match, it is very important, we want to win a medal and we will be prepared no matter who our opponent is.”
Yulia Brovkina, top scorer of Russia: “We are very disappointed, we are responsible, we handed out the match to Japan. We need more focus if we want to win the bronze medal tomorrow and reduce our errors.”