Phl spikers brace for tough Asian men’s club tourney

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines hopes to come up with a solid, fighting team as it braces for a tough outing in the 2014 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship presented by PLDT HOME Fibr draws near.

The Philippines is hosting the event for the very first time from April 8 to 16 at the MOA Arena and the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

It is also the first time national squads for both men and women are being formed by the Philippine Volleyball Federation.

The Phl men’s team, to be known as the PLDT Home TVolution Power Pinoys, will be initially composed of actor-sportsman Richard Gomez, JP Torres, Ronjay Galang, Jeffrey Malabanan, Alnakaran Abdilla, Jason Ramos and Rodolfo Labrador.

National coach Francis Vicente has also tapped Australian players Cedric Legrand and William Robert Lewis to reinforce the national team. All 18 competing teams in the major regional club league will be boosted with one or two foreign players each.

Powered by PLDT HOME Fibr, PLDT HOME’s most powerful broadband, the games will be brought to Filipino sports fans via live streaming and replay-on-demand on TVolution – another milestone in sports entertainment.

All games by the Philippine Team will also be televised live on TV5, the official broadcast partner of the AMCC.

Fans can visit the official website of the 2014 PLDT HOME Fibr Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at asianmensvball.pldthome.com for new updates.

Aside from the remaining players in the pool, Vicente said he is also looking at tapping players from the UAAP, including National University’s Peter Torres, UAAP rookie MVP Mark Espejo and Rex Intal from Ateneo, Jay dela Cruz and Edmar Castro from Perpetual Help.

“Our marching order from the PVF and the organizers is to form the best fighting squad. We won’t come out of the court with no intention of winning,” Vicente said.

The Power Pinoys join Iraq, Kuwait and Mongolia in Group A. They hope to clinch one of two quarterfinals slots in their bracket.

Group B is composed of powerhouse Iran, Japan, Lebanon and Vietnam.

Group C has Qatar, Kazakhstan, Oman, Hong Kong and Turkmenistan, while the United Arab Emirates, India, Papua New Guinea and Chinese Taipei comprise Group D.

PLDT Home Fibr is also supporting the women’s PLDT Home TVolution squad  competing in the 2014 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship in Nakhonpathom, Thailand from April 17-25.

The women’s team, coached by Sammy Acaylar, will have Angeli Tabaquiero and Michelle Datuin on its front and will be reinforced by former Cuban star Regla Bell.