PETRO Gazz head coach Koji Tsuzurabara has mentored 11 teams in 10 countries and two continents over the last 38 years.
A testament to the 60-year-old Japanese mentor’s longevity in the sport was how he once handled some of the players and even the head coach of Chinese Taipei’s young Taipower side — the team Petro Gazz lost to in surprising fashion in pool play of the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League.
READ: Sluggish Petro Gazz falls to Taipower in rough AVC opener
Tsuzurabara once coached Taipower head coach Chang Li Yun and a handful of the team’s youthful core back when the now-Angels mentor called the shots for the Chinese Taipei national team from 2019 to 2022.
The result might have been a disappointing one for Petro Gazz but it still touched Tsuzurabara’s heart to see his former wards shine — and even win — in the international stage.
“[Some of] Taipower’s players were my players. When I was coaching the national team, some players were still high school players. At the time, every day for eight or nine hours, they had practice.
Tsuzurabara added: ”The coach, she was my player, and assistant coach was the assistant coach of the national team.
“I was looking forward to today's game because I could check the improvement of the Taipower players.”
Today, the apprentice got the better of her master but it came with plenty of nerves and jitters.
“I was in a team with coach [Koji] before. I was his player. I think I don’t want to focus on those things so I can have other ways to talk to the players,” Chang said.
“I was a little nervous because before, I was just a player, but I am a coach now. I trust my players to deliver in this game.”
The master took full responsibility for the Angels’ shock drop from championship glory to the brink of elimination in the Asian stage.
“Today, everyone in Taipower had defensive, positive, and aggressive fighting spirit. But my team, so disappointed. I take full responsibility,” said Tsuzurabara.
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