Petron beach volley returns to Puerto Princesa

MANILA, Philippines - The season’s finest sandcourt spikers are coming back to Puerto Princesa for the 2009 Petron Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Battle of Champions this Sunday at the Baywalk.

Led by third-leg champ La Salle-Dasmariñas standout April Almaden and Jennifer Manzano, and second leg titlist Pau Genido, who will team up with new partner Amanda Isada, the fourth-leg cast is a mix of former winners and runners-up of the Petron volleyball circuit.

“It’s going to be unpredictable. Anybody can win the championship,” said organizer Tisha Abundo, during yesterday’s weekly PSA Forum at the Shakey’s Pizza Restaurant in UN Ave.

“The fourth leg of the circuit gives the cast an extra motivation as it will crown who really is this season’s beach volley queens,” said Abundo.

The holding of the Petron volleyball circuit’s final leg, sponsored by Mikasa Balls, Speedo and the City of Puerto Princesa, and coinciding with Mayor Edward Hagedorn’s birthday celebration, is part of the city’s thrust as a top sports tourism destination in the country. It also aims to promote Puerto Princesa’s Subterranean Underground River as a world heritage site and one of the finalists in the global search for the New 7 Wonders of Nature.