Volleybelles gauge selves vs Thais

The Philippines’ middle blocker Mika Reyes facilitates ball distribution during their first training session yesterday before the national volleyball team takes on regional rival Thailand today in the 18th Asian Games. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

JAKARTA, Indonesia ­— The Philippines deploys a strong starting roster when it battles Thailand Sunday in the opening salvo of the women’s volleyball competition of the 18th Asian Games at the GBK Indoor Volleyball hall here.

Action starts at 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. in Manila) with the Philippines looking to post a massive victory against regional rival Thailand to kick off its bid in this prestigious quadrennial tourney on a sizzling note.

The Philippines’ starting unit will be setter Kim Fajardo, first open striker Jaja Santiago, second open striker Alyssa Valdez, opposite spiker Kianna Dy and middle blockers Aby Marano and Mika Reyes.

Head coach Shaq Delos Santos is tipped to match the firepower of the Thais with this powerhouse starting unit which is familiar with pressure and has international experience.

The squad’s lone libero Dawn Macandili, regarded as the second best libero in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Championship last year, will sub at every given opportunity.

The Filipinos are expected to take the game seriously.

The last time they prevailed over the Thais was in the gold-medal game of the 1993 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore. Since then, Thailand completely asserted its dominance as it captured the next 11 SEA Games crowns.

The Philippines, meanwhile, struggled to catch up and settled for the bronze medal in the 2005 SEA Games in Manila before going on a 10-year absence in the biennial meet due to mismanagement and wrangling in the now defunct federation that handled the sport.

In their previous Asian Seniors encounter, the Thais crushed the Filipinos in straight sets in the quarterfinals with rising star Chatchu-On Moksri and seasoned international campaigners Ajcharaporn Kongyot and Wilavan Apinyapong wreaking havoc on both ends.

It was followed by another heart-crushing 0-3 setback in another quarterfinal battle, prompting the Thais to coast to the gold medal of the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Delos Santos said the duel will never be easy, but they are very excited to face the Thais to gauge where they are right now.

“We’re very excited to play them because they are the gold standard in Asian volleyball,” Delos Santos told Daily Tribune’s coverage of the Asiad supported by Primehomes.

Delos Santos’ wards just arrived from a two-week training in Okayama and Osaka, Japan.

“We improved, yes. But of course, we’re still in the process of developing the chemistry and character of the team. We know it’s not an overnight process, but we need tough competitions like this to develop it,” Delos Santos said.

After Thailand, the Philippines will clash with Japan on Tuesday, Hongkong on Thursday and Indonesia on Saturday.

Delos Santos reiterated their goal is to come up with a strong performance and gain experience and momentum for the 30th Southeast Asian Games, which the country will host next year.

“This kind of exposure is very valuable to our goal of coming up with a podium finish in the SEA Games next year,” said Delos Santos, vowing to play their hearts out in their first Asian Games appearance since the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

“We waited for a very long time to make it back to the Asian Games so we might as well give everything we’ve got. We trained hard for this. We’re ready.”