Thailand
The 2014 edition of the premier annual women’s volleyball tournament promises to be absolutely thrilling and a must-watch competition this year due to an increase to a record number of 28 participating teams, with the world’s best 12 sides contesting elite Group 1. Group 2 and Group 3 will feature less-ranked teams to chase their dreams for winning the Group honor.
According to Group 1, the qualified 12 teams comprise the Olympic and reigning champions Brazil, three-time winners USA, world champions Russia, Italy, Germany , Japan, Dominican Republic, South Korea,China, Turkey, Serbia and Thailand.
The 12 teams will be split into three pools of four teams apiece to compete in three weeks of preliminaries.
Thailandteam head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said, “This time, we will face much tougher rivals than the previous years. Therefore, our hopes cannot be that high. However, one thing I’m quite sure of is that my players will fight all-out with their guts and spirit. We don’t set any target to finish in a good position, but we will try our best in all the matches we play. All 12 teams in Group 1 are very strong and each team stands an equal chance of beating the other side. Therefore, to finish among top ten teams in this year’s World Grand Prix is a very difficult mission to accomplish. Nonetheless, if we can achieve that, it will be a great success. So, our top priority is to make it to the top-10 team,” commented Kiattipong.
“We will emphasize more on the valuable experience and exposure our players will obtain during their competition against the formidable rivals. We will try to beat any team which we think we can. Experience to be gained from this tournament will help boost our confidence when we have to take on the strong rivals in the near future,” he added.
To read more about this competition, to see stats, video and photos click on Grand Prix 2014.
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