Kiattipong values practice at China International

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Category: Ningbo District

Published: Tuesday, 21 May 2013 16:51

Thailand coach Radchatagriengkai Kiattipong is looking forward to have his players together in competition to prepare for the FIVB World Grand Prix in August

Ningbo, China, May 17, 2013 – Last year’s surprise World Grand Prix Finalists Thailand are looking forward to using this week’s China International Women's Volleyball Tournament, a two-phase event also featuring Cuba, Puerto Rico and China beginning on Friday in the city of Ningbo, as ideal preparation for the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, which starts on August 2.

Thailand, ranked 12th in the world, recorded their best ever World Grand Prix result last year when they qualified for the final six for the second successive year before finishing fourth, bettering their previous best finish of sixth from 12 months earlier.

Despite coach Radchatagriengkai Kiattipong heading into the tournament with some of his players only just reporting to training after taking part in different leagues, he is looking forward to using the China International Tournament to build up his team for a busy season. “It is a good opportunity for our team to take part in such a prestigious event,” Kiattipong, who has been in charge of Thailand since 1998, said. “We have been working for only for a few weeks after the players came back from their leagues. The presence of China, Cuba and Puerto Rico guarantees a high level of volleyball.”

Newly appointed coach of the China national women’s team, Lang Ping pointed out at the pre-tournament press conference the importance of the event in helping to evaluate her 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.”

Meanwhile Cuba coach Juan Carlos Gala said the tournament will provide 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 stated that the tournament is excellent preparation for his team’s participation in the upcoming Pan American Cup. “We are very glad for the invitation from the Chinese Federation to participate and we come here to continue our preparation for the Pan American Cup,” said Olazagasti. “Hopefully we get the most out of the opportunity and we can identify different situations of our game for the summer events.”

The complete schedule including the second phase to take place in Shenzhen is the following:

Ningbo

Shenzhen