Asian volleyball champions Thailand take aim at world's best in Grand Prix
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Asian champions Thailand will be out to test their strength against the world's top teams in the FIVB World Grand Prix, which kicks off from August 1 to 3 in Turkey, South Korea and Italy.
The 2014 edition of the premier annual women’s volleyball tournament promises to be a thriller this year, with a record 28 teams taking part and the world’s top 12 battling it out in the elite Group 1.
Thailand are one of those teams, and take their place in Group 1 alongside Olympic and reigning champions Brazil, three-time winners USA, world champions Russia, Italy, Germany, Japan, Dominican Republic, South Korea, China, Turkey and Serbia.
The 12 teams will be split into three pools of four teams apiece to compete in three weeks of preliminaries.
World No 12 Thailand, who finished a distant 13th last year, will leave for South Korea on July 29 to kick off the one-month preliminaries in Pool B against hosts South Korea, Germany and Serbia from August 1 to 3.
The first week also sees the USA, Japan, Russia and hosts Turkey pitted against one another in Pool A in Ankara, while Pool C in Rome features hosts Italy, China, Dominican Republic and Brazil.
In the second week, the Thai team will move on to Hong Kong for clashes against hosts China, Italy and Japan between August 8 and 10 before returning for the home matches against Brazil, the USA and the Dominicans at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium from August 15-17.
The top four teams at the end of the preliminaries will join hosts Japan and the winners of Group 2 (Canada, Poland, Belgium, Peru, Cuba, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico and Argentina) for the Finals in Tokyo between August 20 and 24.
As hosts for the third week in Bangkok, the organisers yesterday held a press conference to review their preparations ahead of the prestigious competition.
“Everything is all set for a great competition. We will host Pool G in Bangkok from August 15 to 17 and the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium remains the battle ground for this year’s World Grand Prix.
Tickets priced at Bt100, Bt200 and Bt300 will be available from July 18 via ThaiTicketMajor,” Somporn Chaibangyang, president of the Thailand Volleyball Association, said in the yesterday’s meeting at Golden Tulip Sovereign Hotel.
“Those without tickets can watch the matches live via a giant LCD screen in front of the competition venue.
“Main sponsors ThaiBev [Chang] and partners will launch booths and hold fun activities at the competition venue for all Thai fans,” he added.
On his team’s prospects in the top-flight competition, Thailand head coach Kiattipong Radchata-griengkai said, “This time, we will face much tougher rivals than previous years, so our hopes cannot be that high. However, one thing I’m sure of is that my players will fight all-out with maximum guts and spirit.
“We haven’t set any target … To finish among the top 10 would be a great success.
“Our emphasis is on the valuable experience and exposure to formidable rivals our players will get during the competition,” Kiattipong said.
After the FIVB World Grand Prix, the Thai women’s team will leave for China on September 4 to defend their title at the fourth AVC Cup in Nanchang between September 6 and 12.
