Abella vows to keep Foton competitive
January 11, 2018 | 1:24pm
The Foton Tornadoes will parade a different lineup in the 2018 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix after the departure of Serbian coach Moro Branislav and power-hitting import Sara Klisura. | Philippine Superliga/ Roman Prospero
MANILA, Philippines — There will be butterflies in Rommel Abella’s stomach when he calls the shots for Foton in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix starting February 17.
Abella, the former libero for University of Santo Tomas, said there would be a lot of expectations on him, but he will make sure to handle it and lead the Tornadoes to an impressive finish in the import-flavored conference.
Abella is a no non-sense mentor.
After helping head coach Francis Vicente in steering Philips Gold to a glorious run in the Grand Prix in 2015, Abella packed his bags for the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) where he led Pocari Sweat to three titles.
From Pocari Sweat, he jumped back to the PSL to serve as deputy to John Paul Doloiras at Victoria Sports-UST in the Grand Prix last year.
But it’s going to be a different challenge this year.
Foton, which owns two Grand Prix titles, tapped him to replace noted Serbian coach Moro Branislav, who formally moved to Cocolife.
“Mixed emotions,” said Abella, who formally opened the Tornadoes’ training camp last Monday. “I’m excited because this is my first time to work as head coach in the PSL and nervous because of the expectations knowing that Foton is an elite team in the Grand Prix.”
“But I will try my best. I will prepare my team and take the Grand Prix one game at a time.”
Abella admitted that winning the Grand Prix crown would surely be a major challenge.
The Tornadoes, for one, will be missing the services of Jaja Santiago and EJ Laure while Dindin Santiago is still recuperating from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
They also lost Branislav and Sara Klisura, the power-hitting Serbian import who broke the league’s scoring record when she delivered 41 points against a tough-defending F2 Logistics squad in the elimination round of the Grand Prix last year.
The Tornadoes are now in the process of looking for new imports, although sources claimed that Serbian libero Katarina Vukamanovic will be returning for another tour of duty.
“The management is still looking for imports,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough journey because Petron, F2 Logistics and even Cocolife are very tough. Let’s see. All I can promise is that we will work hard to win the title.”
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