JAKARTA—Women’s volleyball has gone popular back home, but how far Filipino volleybelles have improved on the global stage will be known when the national team squares off with a familiar tormentor Thailand in the Jakarta Palembang 18th Asian Games.
The Filipinas and Thais take the floor at 1:30 p.m. (2:30 p,.m. in Manila) at the Bulungan Sports Hall inside the sprawling main hub of competitions of the 18th edition of the Games, the Gelora Bung Karno complex.
Facing the Thais—who owns 11 straight Southeast Asian Games gold medals and potent contenders in major FIVB tournaments—right in their first assignment is likened to the proverbial David vs Goliath victory.
Thus, head coach Shaq de los Santos dismissed hopes for a podium finish and admitted experience and team chemistry is all what the team aspires for in these Games that are the Olympics of Asia.
“We’re very excited to play them because they are the gold standard in Asian volleyball,” said Delos Santos, whose wards are coming off 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.”
The team is hoping to fain from these Games for a strong chance in next year’s 30th SEA Games the country is hosting.
After Thailand, the Philippines clash with Japan on Tuesday, Hongkong on Thursday and Indonesia on Saturday.
Delos Santos reiterated that their goal is not really to win the gold medal, but just to come up with a strong performance to gain experience and build 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.”
Skipper Aby Marano will lead the campaign together with star players Jaja Santiago, Mika Reyes, Alyssa Valdez, Kim Fajardo and Dawn Macandili, the second best libero in Asia.
Also in the squad are Mylene Paat, Cha Cruz-Behag, Jia Morado, Dindin Manabat, Kianna Dy and Majoy Baron.
Denden Lazaro and Maika Ortiz are also here but were listed as reserves.
So dominating are the Thais that the last time a Philippine team beat them was in 1993 in the gold-medal match of the Singapore SEA Games.
Philippine volleyball was never the same again after that while the Thais frolicked with 11 straight Sea Games crown.
It was only in 2005 when the Philippines made a dent of sorts by claiming bronze in the 2005 SEA Games the country hosted. That, however, was the last time a national women’s team was sent to the biennial regional games.
Experience, perhaps, would be the most the volleybelles could gain from these Games as Thailand is not the only team the Filipinas has to be worried about. Japan, China and Korea—and even host Indonesia—all have superior skills in the sport.
For head coach Shaq de los Santos, facing the Thais would never be easy. But the excitement generates a gauge as to where Philippine women’s volleyball really stand amid the popularity of the sport back home.