POLAND AND RUSSIA ALWAYS AN ATTRACTIVE RIVALRY

Tijuana, Mexico, September 11, 2015 - Matches between Poland and Russia are always very attractive due to the rivalry of both teams.

And the opening day at the High Performance Centre in Tijuana was not an exception. 

 “This was a very important match,” said Mikhail Nikolaev, coach of Russia. “The main thing for us was to get used to the weather.We had some problems with acclimatization. We opened against a very tough rival but my guys did their best.”

For Pavel Pankov coming back to Tijuana is something special. “Tijuana is a very special city for us, we like it. I appreciate the support of the fans”, said Pankov who two years ago earned the MVP Honors at the FIVB Men’s U19 World Championship. “We faced a new team, like Poland, but we played against them several times and it was important to begin the right way,” He added.

Poland’s coach Jakub Bednaruk remarked that despite the loss his team showed courage and resiliency. “We fought hard. We are not worry. We wish to play against Russia next time. Result can be another because the result was very close, in the end the way we got the sets were not very good, but we feel ok with the atmosphere and the fans,” he said.

“This was our first match of the tournament and it was against the world champions, but I think it was very good and it was very interesting to us. I’m sure that we could face them again,” Aleksander Sliwka, captain of Poland stated.