Cairo, Egypt, September 9, 2019 - She may be the youngest of the team, but she's been leading Russia so far in pool play at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship in Egypt. At 16, Tatiana Kadochkina is not just the youngest of the Russian players in the competition, but also one of the most experienced.
Born on 21 March 2003, Tatiana started playing volleyball in Nizhny Novgorod after moving there with her family from Orenburg. In 2016 she joined the Dinamo Kazan school and after only a year there, she got onto the club's B team. By 2018 she had improved so much as to be promoted to the A team, in the Russian Superleague.
Tatiana Kadochkina going for the dig in Ismailia during the 2019 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship in Cairo.
"My father is the main reason for my love of volleyball," Tatiana said. "He was a former volleyball player in the national team and is now a coach."
Alexey Kadochkin had been taking his daughter along when he played his Russian Superleague matches, instilling the love of volleyball in Tatiana.
"Of course, my father helps me a lot to improve my performance and supports me, but also my mother who is a big volleyball fan," she added.
"I have one brother - he likes sports but he chose to play basketball."
Tatiana is playing in her second FIVB U18 World Championship. She was part of the older team in Argentina 2017 when she was 14, and won the bronze medal. She joined the Russian U19 National Team to win the silver medal at last year's European Championship.
"We qualified to the World Championship 2019 after we won the title at the U17 European Championship," explained Tatiana. "Our target in this competition is to get the gold medal. My teammates and I are not afraid of any opponent."
"I keep my dream until I finish my studies, and I hope to go to Italy and play in the Italian League. In addition to playing volleyball, I like watching basketball matches, and enjoy listening to music."
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FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship
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