Ask Russia captain Nadezda Kudinova about her team’s goals for this season and her answer is emphatic: Olympic qualification.
Russia haven’t yet qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but they are one of the favourites to pick up the last remaining Olympic qualification spot heading into the final repechage event in Dublin in June.
Kudinova, Russia’s star player and 2015 nominee for World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, says the focus for Russia during the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series this season has been to build towards the repechage in the hope of securing a coveted place at the Deodoro Olympic Park in Rio this August.
"It's a life goal. We are all looking to qualify for the Olympics, every athlete would like to perform in the Olympic Games, to play for their country in the final and maybe win a medal. I would love to participate in the Olympics."
“Our coach is focussed on selecting the best possible team to perform in Ireland for the Olympic repechage so we are looking for young players and we are looking for older, more experienced players as well. We are just looking for the best possible selection.”
RELISHING A RETURN TO CANADA
Russia go into this weekend’s round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Langford, Canada keen to rediscover some of the form they displayed on their previous appearance at the ground during the 2014/15 series when they finished runner-up to New Zealand in their first ever cup final.
But Kudinova admits their performance in Atlanta, USA last weekend wasn’t their finest so they are looking to step up their game for the fourth round tournament.
“It wasn’t our best performance and we missed out on a lot of opportunities by not finishing our attacks as well as we should have done. But we have already analysed our game and all our mistakes have been identified and fixed and we’re looking for a better performance in Canada. Of course we are looking at repeating last year’s result but at the end of the day what will happen will happen.”
Kudinova says one the keys to an improved performance will be listening to their passionate coach Pavel Baranovsky.
“He is one of the best coaches and all his passion and energy he passes on to the team. When everything is right and we are doing exactly what he tells us, everything starts to get easier and our performances start to improve.”
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