PNVF eyes 4 int’l meets for PH teams

Premier League sets February next year for first conference

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation Inc. has mapped out four international tournaments for the national men’s and women’s teams next year.

The scheduled events serve as the association’s short-term plan for strengthening the squad.

Among the events lined up are the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, which is tentatively set in March pending confirmation from organizers. The biennial meet was rescheduled from November this year due to the pandemic.

The PH women’s team is also set to compete in the 21st Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in Pampanga on May 15 to 22 after it was moved from its original date of late August also due to the pandemic situation.

The association likewise plans to send its men’s and women’s teams to the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games.

The last time the men’s squad saw action in the Asiad was in the 1974 Iran edition where it placed sixth, while the women’s crew competed in the previous edition in 2018 in Indonesia where it finished eighth.

The men’s team will also compete in the eight-nation Philippine leg of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on June 20 to 26.

Both men’s and women’s teams are currently in bubble training at the Aquamarine Events Center in Lipa City, Batangas in preparation for the Asian Club Championships in Thailand next month.

PVL on February 2022

Meanwhle, Premier Volleyball League organizers are looking at February to start the first conference of their 2022 season.

PVL commissioner Tony Liao said team representatives in last week’s meeting unanimously decided to restart the tournament next year to allow players more time to recuperate from a grueling Open Conference last month.

The previous conference was held in a bubbletype setup in Ilocos Norte under a tight schedule following the rising COVID-19 cases in the province.

Liao said all 11 teams were represented in the meeting including F2 Logistics, which begged off to compete last conference citing athletes’ injuries.

Should the initial plan of February in the first season push through, Liao said they are eyeing to hold the second season in October 2022.

Chery Tiggo clinched the Open Conference title this year at the expense of Creamline with Petro Gazz finishing third.