TEAM Choco Mucho will break the ice against Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC at half past noon on Friday at the start of the Asian Volleyball Confederation Asian Club Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
Choco Mucho will play two women short from its original lineup against the local team after coaches Odjie Mamon and Brazilian consultant/coach Jorge Edson Souza de Brito needed to improvise as four members of the second Philippine team, Rebisco, had to complete additional requirements for local health protocols.
“The four players’ swab samples weren’t immediately cleared by local health authorities as the results were elevated to Bangkok where the main lab of Thai Dept of Disease Control is based,” Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Ramon “Tats” Suzara said.
Teams Choco Mucho and Rebisco arrived in Bangkok at around midnight Tuesday and traveled by bus 400 kms north of the Thai capital to the competition venue that hosted the 2007 edition of the Southeast Asian Games.
The AVC approved the players’ transfer.
“You cannot have only eight players on a team which is bound to play so many number of matches,” Suzara said. “It’s a sound decision to balance the team—besides, all of the athletes in Thailand are members of the national team.”
The team’s participation—and that of the men’s squad Rebisco—are supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Rebisco and Taguig City.
Choco Mucho also debuts on Friday against Kazakhstan squad Altay at 6 p.m. (Thailand time).
Team Rebisco and Team Choco Mucho will be among the seven teams vying for the lone Asian spot in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Turkey on December 15-19.
Team Rebisco is bracketed in Pool B with Thailand’s Supreme Chonburi, Kazakhstan’s Altay and Iran’s Saipa.
Team Choco Mucho, skippered by Iris Tolenada, is in Pool A along with Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC and Kazakhstan’s Zhetyssu.
On Friday, Choco Mucho will play Zhetyssu to wrap up its Pool A assignments at 1:30 p.m. (Manila time), while Rebisco will face Supreme Chonburi at 4:30 p.m. (Manila time).
In the final day of the Pool B preliminaries, Rebisco will battle Saipa at 7 p.m. (Manila time).
All matches will be played at Terminal 21 competition hall.
The quarterfinals is set on Monday, the semifinals on October 6 and the finals on October 7.