|
Puerto Rico and Cuba to play in China
NINGBO, China, May 16, 2013 – The word preparation was the most
commonly used by the four coaches of the women’s national teams
taking part in the China Invitational Tournament that start off
on Friday.
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Thailand and hosts China will compete in the
two-phase annual event.
The coaches of the four sides attended a crowded press
conference held on Thursday and were asked to comment on their
teams.
Juan Carlos Gala of Cuba said the tournament will provide a much
needed experience for his young group of athletes.
“We come to this tournament with a young team and we want to
work with this new group,” Gala said. “It gives the girls the
chance to get experience and to start playing at a high
competitive level.”
Puerto Rico’s Rafael Olazagasti commented his team will use the
tournament in preparation for the upcoming Pan American Cup.
“We are very glad for the invitation from Chinese Federation to
participate and we come here to continue our preparation for the
Pan American Cup,” Olazagasti said. “Hopefully we get the most
out of the opportunity and we can identify different situations
of our game for the summer events.”
R. Kiattipong of Thailand praised the prestige of the tournament
while saying some of his players just reported to training after
taking part in different leagues.
“It is a good opportunity for our team to take part in such
prestigious event,” Kiattipong said. “We have been working only
for a few weeks after the players came back from the leagues.
The presence of China, Cuba and Puerto Rico guarantees a high
level volleyball.”
Lang Ping of China pointed out the start of the new cycle and of
the process to evaluate new players.
“Here we start our preparation towards the 2016 cycle,” Lang
said. “The tournament will give me the chance to see the
different players. The quality of the invited teams is good and
should help our working plan.”
In Friday’s matches, Cuba meets Thailand at 15:00 and Puerto
Rico plays China at 19:30.
The complete schedule including the second phase to take place
in Shenzhen is the following:
Ningbo
May 17
15:00 Cuba - Thailand
19:30 China - Puerto Rico
May 18
15:00 Puerto Rico - Cuba
19:30 China - Thailand
May 19
15:00 Thailand - Puerto Rico
19:30 China - Cuba
Shenzhen
May 22
16:00 Cuba - Puerto Rico
19:30 China - Thailand
May 23
16:00 Thailand - Cuba
19:30 China - Puerto Rico
May 24
16:00 Thailand - Puerto Rico
19:30 China - Cuba |
