Sport: Fiji coach proud of first ever Youth Olympic medal
Fiji coach proud after sevens team wins the bronze medal at the Youth Olympics in China, the country's first medal at that level.
Transcript
Fiji have won the Pacific's first Youth Olympic medal at the 2014 Games in Nanjing, China, after the men's sevens team defeated Kenya 12-0 in the bronze medal match.
The medal is Fiji's second at an Olympic level, following Iliesa Delana's High Jump gold at the 2012 Paralympics.
Sevens coach Sale Sorovaki told Vinnie Wylie while it wasn't the colour they had hoped for, it's still a big achievement.
SALE SOROVAKI: It's a first ever Olympic medal for Fiji and we are proud of that achievement.
VINNIE WYLIE: And I think it's the first Youth Olympic medal for a Pacific country as well. Going in did you think you had a chance at the gold or France and Argentina I guess set the pace in the sevens for the men - were they quite strong?
SS: We came into this tournament we had a chance at a medal - i was a colour that probably not what we had wanted but nonetheless. We were talking to the officials of the French and Argentinian [teams] who were coached by their national sevens coaches - most of the teams have been preparing for at least a year while the Kenyans told me they has been preparing for the last two years. Our boys will come away from this tournament with a whole lot of experience and that is good to see.
VW: You guys had a hiccup with Ben Ryan not being able to travel - your national coach - which meant you had to step into the breach as well there. Did that have any effect once you got there or was everything still set up and fine from there?
SS: It was unfortunate Ben could not make the trip - he got injured on the last week before we came but the boys knew what was expected of them.
VW: Sale, while you didn't perhaps get the medal you were hoping for, as you indicated there, you did lose to France and Argentina in pool play as well as Kenya so to come back and beat a team - in a medal match - you had lost to earlier in the tournament must have been satisfying on some level, that you had obviously learnt from some of your mistakes and come back and got the win?
SS: That's right. We lost to Kenya the day before [and] for us to beat them again for the bronze medal playoff was quite satisfying for us as a team and we were happy with that achievement.
VW: In terms of your players, this is the Youth Olympics: it's a chance of an international competition, some major global exposure, getting the chance to take the trip and compete for their country. Will any of them be contenders for World Series selection in the upcoming season or do you see it as more into the future that these guys are thinking about?
SS: We had ten guys who had never left Fiji in this team and this is their first ever trip out of Fiji. Having trained in Fiji and then having a look at them I'm sure that some of these boys later on probably be in the Fijian sevens team along the coming years, but you know that's a decision for our sevens head coach to make and I hope that this has opened up their eyes on what is out there.
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