Indonesia aims high at Asian men's volleyball tourney

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With most players' heights well under the average of those competing in the upcoming 14th Asian Senior Men's Volleyball Championship, Indonesia's team will resort to a variety of offensive schemes to balance its opponents' advantage, said the team's assistant coach.

"We are preparing the team to play quick, multiple offensives. The players should receive the ball carefully so others will be able to build sharper assaults," assistant coach Machfud Irsyada told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Machfud is optimistic the team will be able to maintain their stamina.

The championship, which will use a rally point system, will be held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 9 at the Indoor Tennis Stadium at the Senayan Sports Complex in Central Jakarta.

Teams from 17 Asian countries and Australia will take part in the competition.

The Indonesian host team, together with three other defending champions -- Japan, China and South Korea-- will play in the main draw comprising eight teams. Indonesia will join group A along with the Maldives, Qatar and Taiwan.

Indonesia's players are among those with lowest average height in the competition. Only three countries have an average height below that of Indonesia - Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Australia and Kazakhstan are the countries with the tallest players. Each has nine players with a minimum height of 200 cm. Kazakhstan has two of the tallest players in the competition -Svyatoslav Miklashevich and Anton Yudin, at 210 cm each.

Meanwhile, the women's team will participate in Thailand from Sept. 5 to 13.

The women's assistant coach, Victor Laiyan, said there was no special target for the women's team other than to gain more game-time experience in preparation for the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia.

Victor said the women's junior team, consisting of eight members, had been sent to Cuba for training in preparation for future competitions. (02)