Draw for tough Asian Club volleyball

MANILA, Philippines —A tough field could get even more challenging for Team Philippines seeing action in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship presented by PLDT Home Fibr next month.

Already headlined by defending champion Iran, the roster of teams could be sprinkled by a couple more strong teams just before the draw is held Friday at New World Hotel in Makati.

“These teams comprise the A-list of the regional club competitions,” said organizing committee chair Philip Ella Juico, also a former chair of the Philippine Sports Commission.

“We will not be surprised if we will still receive another team or two for the final count before the draw proper.”

The strongest club teams from China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mongolia, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Turkmenistan, UAE and Vietnam have already confirmed their participation in the prestigious regional tournament set April 8 to 16.

Ramon Suzara, chair of AVC Development and Marketing Committee and member of the FIVB Development Commission, said organizing SportsCore had initially targeted a high of 16 clubs.

Team Philippines is still in the process of finalizing its lineup for the tournament with coach Francis Vicente picking from a pool of 30 players selected from several weeks of tryouts. Cedelf P. Tupas