INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?The Philippines? hosting of the 15th Asian Men?s Senior Volleyball Championship got off to an unfortunate start as flooded venues forced organizers to cancel Saturday the opening rites and games of the regional event that drew over 200 volleyball players from 18 countries.

?All the games scheduled Saturday were postponed until further notice due to severe weather conditions,? Philippine Volleyball Federation vice president Gener Dungo said in a statement Saturday. ?Our apologies. The PVF will keep everyone posted regarding the changes in schedule.?

Event organizers canceled the six games slated Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium and San Andres Gym in Manila due to heavy flooding caused by Typhoon ?Ondoy.?

Top spikers from Australia, Qatar, Maldives, Lebanon, Iran, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, Chinese-Taipei, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Korea, Japan and China recently arrived here to compete in the 10-day event.