Foton to face formidable foes in Asian meet

FOTON Pilipinas will be up against young guns Pornpun Guedpard and Sutadta Chuewulim.

Foton Pilipinas will be led by American imports Ariel Usher and Lindsay Stalzer with guest players Aby Marano of F2 Logistics, Jen Reyes of Petron and Jovelyn Gonzaga of RC Cola-Army adding some force to the team.

They will be supported by mainstays Jaja Santiago, Rhea Dimaculangan, Maika Ortiz, Patty Orendain, EJ Laure, Angeli Araneta, Bia General, Ivy Perez and Cherry Rondina with Italian Fabio Menta as head coach.

Pocari Sweat of Hong Kong and Thongtin Lienvietpost Bank of two opponents in the group stages.

But things are expected to get rough from there as Foton Pilipinas will be pitted against either the NEC Red Rockets of Japan or the Altay VC of Kazakhstan that boasts of formidable imports Russian Olga Biryukova, Bulgarian Vanya Varbanova and Cuban Yunieska Robles Batista.

Menta, who guided the national team of Cook Islands last year. “The job starts after the group stages when we play either Japan or Kazakhstan. It’s either we play our best or we lose. We need half a luck and half a miracle to overcome these tough teams.”

“But we are working very hard. We want to play the game of our lives when we face these elite Asian teams.”

Also seeing action in the meet are Jakarta Elektrik PLN of Indonesia, 4.25 Sports Club of North Korea, T. Grand of Taiwan, Sarmayeh Bank and Malaysia, which is said to be bringing in its national side.