[엑스포츠뉴스 조은혜 기자] GS Caltex coach Sang-Hyun Cha shared his feelings of winning the regular league.
For GS Caltex, Heungkuk Life, a strong candidate for the championship, lost in the final game of the season and confirmed the championship of the regular league. Heungkuk Life Insurance ended the regular league with 19 wins and 11 losses and 56 points as he couldn’t win points in the last game, KGC Ginseng. Accordingly, GS Caltex, which made a season record of 20 wins and 9 losses and 58 points with a victory against IBK IBK on the 12th, confirmed the first place regardless of the results of the ginseng construction game on the 16th, the final game of the season, and went directly to the championship decision.
It has been 12 years since the 2008-2009 season that GS Caltex won the top spot in the regular league. At that time, GS Caltex, which was pushed by Heungkuk Life Insurance and failed to win the integrated championship at the time, will challenge for the first integrated win in history with winning the third championship match since 2007-2008 and 2013-2014. The following is a question and answer with director Cha Sang-hyun.
-What are your impressions of being #1 in the regular league?
▲ The start was not good at the beginning of this season. It was a tough start. Still, we steadily prepared for every game and tried to show the volleyball we prepared and trained. In particular, the captain Lee So-young held the center well, and the team’s senior members Han Su-ji and Kim Yu-ri led the team atmosphere well. I felt that the players in the warm-up zone continued to grow as I continued playing this season. The growth of the players was the driving force behind the championship. I am grateful to all the players who worked hard as one.
-He ran the last 6 consecutive wins and unfolded a band electrode. What is the driving force that gained more energy and improved performance in the second half?
▲ No tactics or strategies have changed during the season. Teamwork and atmosphere gradually led the upward trend. The atmosphere of not giving up and the organizational power of the team’s trust in each other revived, and it was possible to come to the end. As the season progresses, there is always an up-down in terms of performance and team atmosphere. It seems that I was able to overcome it with the teamwork and atmosphere of the team.
-Looking back at the entire regular league this season, what I liked the most and what needs to be supplemented the most.
▲ The part that can be evaluated the most is the confidence of the players. There are a lot of relatively young players, but it seems that each of us has been able to confidently in the play we prepared for the belief that we can overturn even if we lose while on the rise. In doing so, the growth of each player was remarkable. Not only one player, but every player has grown enough to play their respective roles if given the opportunity. Perhaps the point to be supplemented is the receive and defense. Handa-hye and Han Su-jin have done really well this season and have grown a lot. However, one of the important things to make the team’s preparations is stable defense. If that part is a little more stable, I think it will be a stronger team.
-We have achieved first place in the regular league, but the championship match remains. What will you prepare intensively for?
▲ I’ll prepare with embarrassment. Just because the championship match is an important match doesn’t change the way we trained. We will prepare the players to focus so that they can show our mood and tempo well in the remaining important games, and we will try to make the play a little more elaborately reduced on the court.
-How are you going to prepare for the last game of the regular league?
▲ There is a lot of worries ahead of the championship match. Players who didn’t play much during the season may be put in, but as there is a gap until the final, it seems that we have to think about it and judge it.
-In the championship match, fans visit the stadium with 10% of the crowd allowed. A word to the fans.
▲ It was a lot of regret that the season ended when last season was the most exciting due to the head fight. It was even more regrettable because there were not many fans in the stadium due to Corona 19. Everyone, including the fans, may have a lot of fatigue, but we are looking forward to the day when we can enjoy volleyball at the stadium with our fans a little harder. Our players will do our best to show off their good performance and give them joy. Thank you very much for loving volleyball.
[email protected] / Photo = Xports News DB