04/01/2016 13:15
Ready to rumble, Ferhat Akbas between last training and first #RoadToRio game.
2016 European Olympic Qualification - Women
Ankara, Turkey, January 4, 2016. Today is a big day for volleyball in Europe, with the start of the European Olympic Qualification tournament for women in Ankara. Just a couple of hours before the first game against Croatia, the Turkish team finished their last training session. Before leaving the Baskent competition hall to fine tune the last tactics, we caught up with the Turkish coach, Ferhat Akbas, for some pre-game insights.
“I can say that we are in a good shape, we have many experienced players who are carrying the younger talents and the whole team has a big motivation to win. We have no injuries or other problems after this last training, so we are waiting impatiently for the game of tonight,” Ferhat Akbas answered when he was asked how he feels about the team after the last training session.
Ankara is the centre of top volleyball for women this week and the whole city turned into a real volleyball paradise. It’s with big joy that Ferhat Akbas looks forward to playing in front of the home crowd: “I am sure that playing at home will be a great advantage, because we already played many important tournaments on this court and the spectators in Ankara somehow give us special powers. They will come and will make for sure a lot of noise for us, the team loves our fans and we look forward to seeing them at our matches.”
The Turkish coach is not making any predictions about the tournament, he thinks it’s important to take it game by game and adjust if necessary day by day depending on the results. Ferhat Akbas talks about three important steps in this tournament: “First step is qualifying from our group, then play for the top 3 and eventually give everything to end the tournament in first place. The first two matches are very important, because if we start well, we’ll build on that good energy. If we start with problems, then it will be difficult to fight back in this close competition, so the first two matches are really special to me.”
Tonight Turkey will play their first game against Croatia at 19h30 local time. You can follow the game live on LAOLA1.tv
The #RoadToRio #Volleyball games are also covered with a beautiful live picture gallery that you can find here.
|