BY ABBY TORALBA
VIETNAM kicks off its title defense against former champion Hong Kong as pool action in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup for Women opens shop today at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The Vietnamese, who won their first Challenge Cup crown in 2023 in Indonesia, and 2022 winner Hong Kong clash in a Pool A match at 4 p.m. in the continental competition hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.Singapore battles Kazakhstan at 10 a.m. in Pool B to be followed by the India and Iran match at 1 p.m. in Pool A.
Australia and Chinese-Taipei take to the court also in Pool A at 7 p.m. Pilipinas Alas, the national team composed of Premier Volleyball League and UAAP, is in Pool A and will see action against Australia on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Indonesia, which also drew a bye, takes on Hong Kong 10 a.m. and Chinese-Taipei faces India at 1 p.m. in Pool A and Vietnam clashes with Singapore in Pool B at 4 p.m. also Thursday.
PVL aces Sisi Rondina, Dawn Macandili-Catindig, Eya Laure, Jen Nierva, Faith Nisperos, Fifi Sharma, Dell Palomata and Cherry Nunag will represent the country along with collegiate stars Angel Canino, Thea Gagate, Julia Coronel and Arah Panique.
