All eyes on Thompson in Tornadoes-Cignal duel

MANILA - Eyes will be on Foton’s new import Channon Thompson when the Tornadoes battle Cignal in the Chooks to GoPhilippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Game time is at 4:15 p.m. with both the Tornadoes and the HD Spikers looking to score a crucial victory to fan their respective quarterfinal bids in this prestigious women’s club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as official broadcast partner.

Also seeking to start their second-round campaign on a high note are Cocolife and Sta. Lucia Realty, which will clash in the 7 pm featured encounter of this league that also has Senoh, Mikasa, Asics, Grand Sport and LGR as technical sponsors.

After finishing the first round at the third spot with a 4-3 win-loss card, the Asset Managers are looking to win at least two of their next three games in the second round to barge into the top four and clinch a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.

“That’s our goal,” said Cocolife coach Moro Branislav, saying that a morale-boosting victory over the Lady Realtors will set the tone for their blockbuster clash with unbeaten Petron next week.

“Every game will be very crucial. We need to win two of our next three matches. We have to win against Sta. Lucia and Smart, so we will be confident against Petron, which is the best team in the league right now for me.”

Branislav’s goal, however, will never be easy since the Lady Realtors are also looking to bounce back from a sorry four-set meltdown to the Tornadoes in their last game in the first round.

Sta. Lucia head coach George Pascua said he used the Holy Week break to motivate the local players to step up and support imports Marisa Field of Canada and Bohdana Anisova of Ukraine entering the crucial stretch of the classifications.