|
Trinidad & Tobago lead Pool A hopefuls
Paramaribo, Suriname, August 31, 2012 – Trinidad & Tobago,
recently crowned five-time Caribbean Women's Volleyball
champions, are pre-tournament favourites in the 2014 FIVB World
Volleyball Women's Norceca First Round Pool A qualifying series
which serves off in Paramaribo, Suriname on September 1-2.
In addition to Trinidad & Tobago, ranked 8th in
NORCECA, hosts Suriname (16th), Bahamas (18th)
and the non-ranked Guadeloupe and Bahamas are the other teams
involved in the four-team round-robin series to be contested at
the Ismay van Wilgen Sports Hall.
At the end of the round-robin series, the top two teams will
meet in the final and the third and fourth place team battle for
bronze after which the top three teams will advance to next
year's second round of qualifiers.
The women's qualifying series in Suriname is the penultimate
women's first round group of the eight groups of qualifiers to
be played with only Pool E (Jamaica, Barbados, Aruba, Cayman
Islands) carded for November in Jamaica left to be completed.
Speaking on Friday, the coaches Francisco Cruz (Trinidad &
Tobago) Jean-Luis De Lag (Guadeloupe), Joe Smith (Bahamas) and
Eric Aikman (Suriname) expressed confidence in advancing to the
next phase of qualification.
Cruz said his team had no option but to win the tournament in
his view.
"We need to obtain the top spot in the group because for me it’s
our only option,” Cruz stated.
“I say this because we have the best players in the Caribbean
region and the best team overall.”
De Lag first pointed out his team was without four of its
players who were part of the team which competed at the recent
Caribbean Championship in St Croix, US Virgin Islands for
various reasons.
"Because of this I don't have a strong team as I would have
liked and now I told my players they have to work much harder
for every point and set to try and win to be among the top three
teams to qualify,” he said.
Smith said, "Even though our team is short-handed with only ten
players we came here with the aim to qualify. We know we don't
need to be champions of the group to qualify but just be among
the top three teams. We have added a few new faces to the team
and we know it is going to be tough but we have to play hard and
represent our country against all the teams which we know well.”
Aikman was quick to note his team was a relatively youthful one
with the youngest player being 14 years and the oldest at 26.
"Despite its youth I must say I believe it’s a good team if you
want to compare it to the 2010 team which finished second to T&T
in the Caribbean Championships here in Suriname. The core of
this team comprises most of the players from 2010 so we have a
good mixture of youth and experience and I am confident that we
have a great chance to be among the top three teams to qualify
from the group.”
This is the seventh first round women’s tournament organized by
NORCECA Confederation in 2012. The previous events took place in
Nicaragua, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Grenada,
Saint Kitts & Nevis and Panama.
Competition Schedule:
September 1
09:00 Trinidad & Tobago v Bahamas
11:00 Suriname v Guadeloupe
18:00 Trinidad v Guadeloupe
20:00 Suriname v Bahamas
September 2
09:00 Bahamas v Guadeloupe
11:00 Suriname v Trinidad & Tobago
18:00 Third v Fourth
20:00 First v Second
Results of the previous FIVB World Championships 2014 NORCECA
first round women’s tournaments:
Group H at Nicaragua (May 17-21)
1.Nicaragua, 2.Guatemala, 3. Honduras *
Group C at
US Virgin Islands (May 24-28)
1.US Virgin Islands, 2.Curacao, 3. Haiti, 4. Martinique
Group F at British Virgin Islands (June 8-11)
1.Dominica, 2. Antigua, 3.British Virgin Islands, 4.French St
Martin
Group B at
Grenada (June 21-24)
1.St Lucia, 2.St Vincent, 3.Grenada, 4.St Eustatius
Group D at
St. Kitts and Nevis (July 26-30)
1.St Kitts & Nevis, 2.Anguilla, 3.Bermuda, 4.Dutch St. Marteen
Group G at
Panama (August 17-21)
1.Panama, 2.El Salvador, 3.Belize, 4.Bonaire
* Only three teams took part to decide the seeding for next
round |
