Beijing, September 15 – Comments from coaches and athletes of China and the United States after their semifinal match.

Zhang Yong (Coach of CHN)

On performance:

“Today we made the best of our skills. Actually we just have to do the same as our training. Today we weren’t afraid of our strong opponent and everyone performed wonderfully.”

On tactics:

“We plan different tactics to fight different opponents. We have no advantage with physical condition, so we must be better with technique.”

On the gold medal match:

“Yao Yongquan, one of our key players, has hurt his middle finger so he won’t be playing tomorrow. It will be a big loss for us, but we will do our best.”

Yang Chunhong (CHN)

On hi-five celebration with twenty seconds to go in the game:

“We knew we would definitely claim victory so I could not help celebrating with my coaches (on the bench). We are thrilled about this improvement.”

Thomas Parrigin (Coach of USA)

On China’s slow balls:

“We would do the same thing if we were on the lead in the last few minutes. It’s safe and not easy to commit penalties.”

On experience gained:

“I have to sit down and analyze the process to know what we can do to improve.”