Home » NEW YEAR’S INTERVIEW: Thomas Edgar – “This season I have an average of 40-50 attacks per game”

NEW YEAR’S INTERVIEW: Thomas Edgar – “This season I have an average of 40-50 attacks per game”

by WoV

Bundaberg-born Thomas Edgar has played in the strongest leagues in the world, cementing his reputation as one of the best opposites playing the game. Currently, he is the member of the Japanese JT Thunders.

Thomas Edgar

Edgar

Last season Edgar was the MVP of the Argentine league after he won the title with Personal Bolivar and as a member of the Australian National team, he qualified for the World Championship 2018.

In front of this Australian bomber who is also the recorder of scoring the highest number of points in the single FIVB match, is another challenging year.

What can we expect from Australia at the World Championship and can you describe Pool C

“I think Pool C is definitely the most difficult pool at the World Championships. You have two teams in the top 4 in USA and Russia, Serbia who won the 2016 World League, African Champions Tunisia, and Cameroon who are always difficult to play. In saying that Australia has a great preparation leading into the World Championships with plenty of high-level competition in the Volleyball Nations League. So plenty of chances for improvement and development for all of the players but especially the younger guys before the World Championships in September.” 

In Japanese Cup, you didn’t have the chance to fight for the trophy. Do you expect maybe trophy in the league?

Was very disappointing losing a close 5 set game in the Emperors Cup vs Toyoda. I think with the team we have and the potential for improvement compared to the other teams in the V-League that we have a great chance to achieve a great result at the end of the season and fight for the trophy”  said Edgar whose stats you can check here.

What will be the success for you in this season?

The most important thing for me this season is my team JT Thunders goal, and that goal is to win the V-League championship. Individual awards and statistics are always an honor but they never been the most important to me, it’s about how I contribute to the team’s success. “ 

Can you tell us how many balls you get during the match? Is it hard to jump so many times?

“Depends on the game and how well I am playing I guess  (smile). I think for this season I am averaging 45-50 attacks per game. I’ve honestly grown accustomed to hitting a high volume of balls per game, through seasons in Korea, China and with the national team. Japan does play back to back games Saturday and Sunday so that is a little more difficult playing big games consecutively so Mondays are always an important recovery day.”  

And in Korea, many foreign players scored over 40-50 points during the match?

“Korea was a very eye-opening two seasons for me, it was a lot of the time the two foreigners doing battle and hitting a high volume of balls against each other. So it was common for these sort of games to result in the foreigner having 40-50 points regularly. 

Do you know what was the largest number of points that you scored?

My record is 50 points under the FIVB jurisdiction. In the match of World Cup against Egypt. The World Record sits at 59 points by Samsung Bluefangs (at the time) Leyva Martinez in the All-Star match Japan vs Korea.”  See the top 10 best Men’s and Women’s single-match scorers in volleyball history

Do you plan to return to Europe? 

I get asked this question a lot. I really enjoyed the seasons I have spent in Europe. If the right situation in a strong team in Europe eventuated I would of course consider. At the moment, however, I am enjoying my time in Japan and will discuss my future with JT before considering other options.” 

Who is in your opinion the best player on the planet right now?

That’s a difficult question as naming one best player across 5 different skilled positions. If I had to narrow it down to a few names though, watching Leon, Leal, and Juantorena at the Club World Championships. They would certainly be up there.” 

What is your goal when we speak about volleyball in general?

My goal with volleyball has always been the same, to be the best player I can be. Growing physically, technically, mentally through every opportunity, every game, every tournament and every season. The other part of that goal is enjoying this process, enjoying the challenges the games and being able to play this amazing sport.” said Edgar at the end of the interview for WorldofVolley.

 

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