COMPETITION will be tough and hard.
But for many teams joining, the experience gained from playing against world-class spikers will be something to look forward to.
Coaches of Bangkok Glass, Eczacibasi Vitra of Istanbul, Hisamitsu Spring Kobe of Japan and Manila-PSL F2 Logistics sized up the opposition a day before action in the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship presented by PLDT goes full blast Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We will do our very best,” said Thai coach Kittipong Pornchartyingcheep during a pre-match press conference at the Diamond Hotel.
The Thais are among the teams to beat, considering that they have qualified to the 2015 Asian Women’s Club.
On the other hand, Turkish squad Eczacibasi Vitra barely know the strength of their rivals, so they will have to take things one game at a time.
“We know it’s going to be tough. So, we’ll take it day by day,” said their Italian coach Massimo Barbolini.
Meanwhile, Japanese coach Kumi Nakada believes that there will be many challenges during the course of the week.
“It’s challenging. So I’m spending a lot of time with the my young players. Many of them are in high school,” said Nakada.
PSL coach Moro Branislav stressed the need for Filipino players to appreciate the experience that they will have throughout the week.
“The experience that the tournament will give them and the tough teams that they will face (are what’s important). There’s a lot of people who want to watch the team play here,” said Branislav.
PSL-F2 Logistics Manila will meet the South American champion Rexona-Sesc Rio in the 6:30 p.m. main offering, and Branislav said the players are looking forward to the game.
The tournament is organized by the Philippine Superliga and Eventcourt with TV5, Petron, Asics, BMW and F2 Logistics as sponsors, Diamond Hotel as official residence and Turkish Airlines as official airlines.
Olympic gold medalist Zhu Ting leads VakifBank Istanbul as they face Hisamitsu Springs Kobe at 10 a.m.
The match will be followed by a showdown between Volero Zurich and Asian titlist Bangkok Glass at 1 pm.
On the other hand, reigning champion Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul tests the strength of European superpower Pomi Casalmaggiore at 4:30 p.m.
The opening ceremony earlier in the day will be graced by International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) honorary president Wei Jizhong, Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) secretary general Shanrit Wongprasert, FIVB executive council member Stav Jacobi and Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc. president Joey Romasanta and vice-president Peter Cayco.
The Filipinas are skippered by Rachel Anne Daquis and powered by seven foreign reinforcements.
Aside from Daquis, one of the most beautiful faces in local volleyball circuit, Mika Reyes, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Jen Reyes, Kim Fajardo, Frances Molina and Jaja Santiago will carry the cudgels for the Filipina spikers.
Americans Stephanie Niemer and Lindsay Stalzer, Puerto Rican Lynda Morales, Ukrainian Yevgeniya Nyukhalova, Russian Ekaterina Krivets, Thai Tichaya Boonlert and Japanese Yuri Fukuda will also suit up for the PSL-F2 Logistics Manila squad. that will be handled by Serbian Moro Branislav.