Thai spikers enter 'Group of Death'
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Thai volleyball coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai says his female charges face a steep learning curve as they open their FIVB World Grand Prix Pool A campaign against Serbia today.
Kiattipong said his players would face stronger rivals in this year’s World Grand Prix, the premier women’s volleyball tournament.
“Serbia are not underdogs. They are stronger than us. We have to study their game plan and maximise our preparations,” said the coach at yesterday’s Bangkok press conference.
“My players are fit physically and mentally ready to produce their best form. It won’t be easy to beat the Serbians, but we will learn from them. One thing I can be sure of is that we will do our best here on home soil,” said Kiattipong, who steered his side to an eighth successive SEA Games title last month.
Meanwhile, Japanese head coach Manabe Masayoshi said his side also have a chance to sharpen their tactics against the three strong teams.
“We will start our World Grand Prix with a tough clash against defending and successive twotimes champions Brazil. We will be trying out several young talents in this tournament,” he said.
Serbian head coach Branco Kovasevic also hopes his team can kick off their season in style at the World Grand Prix. “Every team is very strong, but we will do our best. We took a bronze medal at the European Games and hope to repeat the similar feat.”
Brazilian head coach Jose Roberto Guimares is another looking to survive in this “Group of Death”:
“Pool A features all strong teams, but we will do our best.”
Today, Thailand and Serbia play the curtainraiser at 4pm, followed by a clash of titans as Brazil and Japan collide in a rematch of last year’s final. Channel 7 has the Thai match live from 4pm, while SMM will broadcast both matches live.
