THREE local squads promise to give Est Cola of Thailand a good fight in the final round of the Philippine Super Liga Invitational Volleyball 2016.
RC Cola-Army coach Kung Fu Reyes, F2 Logistics’ Mayee Prochina and Petron Tri-Activ’s George Pascua vowed to do this when they play a round-robin encounter beginning today at the Arena in San Jia.
The Thai squad will first meet F2 Logistics at 4 p.m.
“We had good training just for this. This will be a tough competition, the final round,” said Prochina during a gathering yesterday at the Viking’ Restaurant at the SM By The Bay in Pasay City.
Est Cola, coached by Chaman Dokmai, will play with four spikers who saw action in the Asian U-23 Championship held in Manila last year.
The team includes 23-year-old middle blocker Jarasporn Bundasak and 20-year-old setter Parinya Pankaew, who both saw action in the Asian Championship in Tianjin, China, Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia and the Asian U23 Championship in Manila.
Last week, the La Salle Lady Spikers beat the younger Thai squad, 20-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-22, 15-11, in a tuneup match.
“This will be good exposure for my players. Most of them are young, and the Philippines has strong teams,” said Dokmai.
Dokmai, who once coached the Thai team in the ASEAN University Games with Ateneo de Manila mentor Tai Bundit as his assistant. Peter Atencio
They also boast of a 6’3” open hitter in Sasipaporn Janthawisut.
“We expect more competition for our locals from Thailand,” said Reyes.
