A PREVIEW of what to expect in the 2024 Paris Olympics will be in full display in the Volleyball Nations League Men’s Pools Week 3 Action at the Mall of Asia Arena, with six Paris qualifiers of the eight entries in the roster displaying their wares in front of Filipino fans.
Defending champion France, which won the gold in the Tokyo Olympics, is looking forward to a showdown with fellow Paris Olympic qualifiers, USA, Germany and Canada.
The French spikers will also clash with Olympic teams Japan and Brazil, plus opponents from The Netherlands and Iran in the coming days.
“We meet Germany, Japan and Brazil. They’re the best teams. We need to play well if we are to improve our level,” said head coach Andrea Giani, taking over from former mentor Laurent Tille, who steered the French side to the gold after beating a Russian side in five sets.
Giani talked about their coming competition after a meet-and-greet with coaches and team skippers of participating squads on Monday at the Makati Shangri-La.
France seeks to become one of the top eight squads in the Volleyball Nations League Finals, set in the city of Łódź in Poland from June 27 to 30.
Giani’s squad will first clash with Germany on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
In Tuesday’s opener, Brazil takes on The Netherlands at 5 p.m., while Canada meets Japan at 8:30 p.m.
“This is a teaser, a preview of the Paris Olympics, for teams which are already qualified,” said Philippine National Volleyball Federation president and chief organizer Ramon Suzara.
With the VNL serving as the final volleyball tournament before the Paris Olympics, five tickets based on the FIVB World Rankings are up for grabs among the determined squads, especially to those who haven’t qualified yet.
Only seven countries – host France, Germany, Brazil, USA, Japan, Poland and Canada – have booked their Olympic seats so far. Only Poland is missing from the Manila leg of the VNL.