A strong field of former Olympians, national team players will be fielded by the competing teams against Foton Pilipinas when the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship fires off on Saturday at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan City.
Yuan Xinyue, a 19-year old middle blocker who won the gold medal in the recent Rio de Janeiro Olympics, will be bannering Ba’yi Shenzheng of China together with Lin Yanhan, the open spiker who was named as Most Valuable Player when the country hosted the Asian U23 Women’s Championship last year.
Not to be outdone, the NEC Red Rockets of Japan will also parade an Olympian in middle blocker Haruyo Shimamura together with Sarina Koga, the Best Scorer and MVP when Japan won the gold medal in the Asian Youth Girls Championship in 2012.
Also tipped as a force is the reigning Asian champion Bangkok Glass of Thailand, making this tournament organized by the Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas, Inc. (LVPI), Philippine Superliga (PSL) and the Biñan City government headed by Congw. Len Alonte-Naguiat and Mayor Arman Dimaguila a tough event.
TV5 and SMMTV-Thailand are the official television partners, with Crimson Hotel serving as the official hotel for the participating teams.
The Thais will be led by seasoned national team campaigners Pleumjit Thinkaow, Wanida Kotruang and Wilavan Apinyapong as well as young guns Pornpun Guedpard and Sutadta Chuewulim.
