Though the Thailand women's team remains in superb form, Shanrit Wongprasert, director of the Thailand Volleyball Association (TVA) and FIVB member, predicts they will have a tough World Grand Prix with slim chances of making it to the Finals for a third successive year.
The women's volleyball team enjoyed a scintillating run last year, finishing an incredible fourth place against the planet's best at the top-flight FIVB World Grand Prix.
Thailand have advanced to the World Grand Prix Finals the past two years. In 2011 in Macau, they finished sixth, while last year in Ningbo, China, they claimed fourth place after a stunning performance against top teams, including the USA, Brazil, China, Italy and Turkey.
This year, the FIVB has increased the number of berths available from 16 to 20 for the three-leg World Grand Prix Preliminary Round. Nineteen teams have already qualified, leaving the remaining ticket to be decided among African countries.
For the three legs, Thailand will first travel to Turkey for the Pool C clash from August 2 to 4 against hosts Turkey, Japan and the team from Africa. A week later they enter Pool J against hosts Russia, Italy and Cuba.
Thailand then return home to host Pool L encounters against Russia, Germany and Puerto Rico from August 16 to 18. After the three legs, the top five teams plus hosts Japan will make the cut for the single round-robin Finals in Sapporo from August 28 to September 1.
On the back of their exceptional form last year, seven Thai players were invited last October to play professionally in the six-month-long Azerbaijan Super League with club Igthisadchi Baku. The Thais have helped power the team to the top of the league standings.
However, despite the impressive run of the national team, Shanrit reckons they are outsiders to make it to the Finals.
"This year our women's team are due to take on much strong rivals, such as two-time world champions Russia, two-time World Cup winners Italy, and Turkey. For the second leg in Russia, I think Cuba are our weakest rivals. However, we can't underestimate any team. We beat them last year, but I'm sure they will come back much stronger.
"With such formidable opposition, I think we have slim chances of making it to the Finals … a 40 per cent chance of advancing."
"In terms of attracting spectators for volleyball this year, I think we will see far more than in previous years when we hosted the World Grand Prix at [Bangkok's] Keelawes 1 Gymnasium, Thai-Japan Youth Welfare Centre.
"This year, the venue will shift to the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium, which has about 8,000 seats and can be expanded to 10,000 if required."
TVA president Somporn Chaibangyang said on Thursday that ThaiBev, the major sponsor of the association, had agreed to boost their support from Bt16.5 million to Bt25 million per year, for a four-year deal worth Bt100 million. A delighted Somporn was upbeat, saying the association's development policy and future plans looked brighter than ever.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/01/26/tough-year-predicted-for-women-spikers/
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