04/01/2016 16:30
Birthday girl Kaja Grobelna’s one wish: a ticket to Rio
2016 European Olympic Qualification - Women
Ankara, Turkey, January 4, 2016. Belgium’s Kaja Grobelna is turning 21 today. The day before her first match of the women’s 2016 European Olympic Qualification the Belgian opposite with Polish roots has one wish more than any other: a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The atmosphere among the Belgian players in Baskent hall in Ankara is focused and cheerful at the same time. It is the last practice before the start of the women’s 2016 European Olympic Qualification, and the last details and tactics need to find their way into the hands of the Yellow Tigers.
The smile is a little wider on the face of Kaja Grobelna than for the rest of the team. It is the birthday of the 188 cm tall Allianz MTV STUTTGART player, who is turning 21, but she has not celebrated much: “We have only celebrated a little bit, since the first match is tomorrow. So it has been a quiet birthday,” says Kaja Grobelna on her way to the team’s bus.
She is looking forward to Tuesday and the first match for Belgium at the women’s 2016 European Olympic Qualification.
“I am happy that I can be here in Ankara. I like it a lot here. The organisation is good, and I like the arena,” she says. “It is a whole new tournament. Our ambitions are to qualify for Rio, but we know it will be really hard, because all the teams are really good,” she adds.
Though, she feels confident after a good preparation. “I have the feeling that we are well prepared. We have watched a lot of videos of the other teams, so we are prepared in the best possible way to know what we should expect from our opponents. We know what we should be focussed on, our own strengths and own weaknesses,” she recounts.
“Now it is up to us to show that we can turn all the preparations into good action on court,” Grobelna continues. “We need to show how we play and stay focussed on every match. We start with Poland tomorrow. The opening match will be really important for us. It is an important game. If we win, everything is possible, and we aim to hit a flow.”
And Kaja Grobelna is very clear, when asked what she wants if she had one wish on her birthday… “You can guess it. Not only a win against Poland tomorrow, but the same also for all remaining matches,” she says before walking the last few meters to the team bus waiting for her in snowy Ankara.
Belgium will play against Poland in Pool B tomorrow at 16:30 local time in Ankara.
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