BRAZILIAN COACH Bernardo Resende said his team is in a good position to retain the World Grand Prix Women's Volleyball Championship.
But the 39-year-old native of Rio de Janeiro pointed out that due to the improvements shown by other teams in international competitions, Brazil should strive more.
"Cuba is always strong, Italy is a better team this year and Korea has improved a lot. Each game is difficult, we have to work very hard," said Resende in yesterday's press conference at the Century Park Hotel.
Brazil, Cuba, Italy and Korea will showcase their talents tomorrow when the Philippine leg of the 1999 World Grand Prix kicks off at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Cuba and South Korea will play in the first match at 5:30 p.m. to be followed by the Italy-Brazil encounter at 7:30 p.m.
"This is a tough tournament, there are no easy games. Our goal is to get
to the top four and we have to win more matches to be able to get there,"
said Resende, who is seeking to give Brazil its fourth Grand Prix title
after winning in 1994, 1996 and 1998.
Despite losing key players Fernanda Venturini and Ana Paula Connelly this year, Brazil remains a formidable squad with the presence of spiker Leila Barros, last year's MVP awardee and a veteran of the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, Ana Beatriz Moser, Raquel Silva, Karin Rodrigues, Virna Dias and Ana Sanglard[sic].
The biggest challenge to Brazil's title defense is World champion and 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medalist Cuba, which will be playing minus Regla Torres.
Torres, among the world's best blockers and hitters, has been sidelined by injury. She was named MVP and best blocker in the 1998 World Championships in Japan.
"The teams are all strong so we know that the competitions
will be exciting. Our players will have to play hard and work hard because
we want to see Cuba on top," said Ricardo Vante, chef de mission of the
Cuban delegation.
Spearheading the Cuban team are team captain Regla Bell Mackenzie[sic];
Marlenis Costa Blanco, who played in two World Championships, Olympic Games
and Grand Prix; 1998 Grand Prix and World Championship best hitter Ana
Fernandez Valle; and Yamilka[sic] Luaces.
"We've learned a lot from our experience playing in the European Championships. We are hoping to be in the final," said Italy's Angiolino Frigoni.
Kim Cheol-Yong, head coach of the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games champion Korean team, is hopeful of a better showing in the Grand Prix. "We have prepared for this tournament and we will do our best to improve our performance here."
Korea, which has the most excellent defense among the world's best teams, will parade playmaker Kang Hye-Mi and Ku Min-Jung. The other members of the team are Park Soo-Jung, Chang So-Yun, Chung Sun-Hye and Chang Yoon-Hee.
The top four teams after the four-leg preliminary
rounds will play in Yu Xi, China for the crossover semifinals on Aug. 28
and the finals on Aug. 29.
Text adapted from Manila Bulletin, August 19, 1999