THAILAND UPDATED. The Thai women's volleyball team aims to win its 10th straight title without dropping a set at the SEA Games.
Asian champions Thailand are hot favourites and coach Kiattipong Radchatakriengkrai wants to win the title in style.
"I am confident that we can win our 10th successive gold medal without losing a set," said Kiattipong, who guided his team to win the Asian crown this year.
World No.12 Thailand have beaten Malaysia and Vietnam 3-0 in their first two games in Myanmar in the preliminary round.
They will meet the hosts today and Indonesia tomorrow. The top two teams after the round-robin stage will meet again in the final on Saturday.
Vietnam are considered Thailand's most dangerous opponents.
Kiattisak has given chances to fringe players although his first-team stars have played some roles in the opening two matches.
Meanwhile, cyclist Wilaiwan Kunlapha won gold in the women's road race 128km individual event in 4:11:17hr.
The silver medal was also won by a Thai, Jutatip Maneephan in 4:15:07hr while Vietnamese Nguyen Thi That got bronze.bangkokpost.com
CAMBODIA UPDATED. Cambodia’s national volleyball team showed some medal potential during pre-SEA Games friendlies held at the indoor hall of Olympic Stadium over the weekend with two 3-0 shutouts against Vietnamese clubs Sanest and Maseco. Battambang Police Station, however, lost 3-1 to Maseco but managed to edge Sanest 3-2 in Friday and Saturday encounters. The coach of Maseco, however, refused to validate the results, claiming the Vietnamese players had failed to play to their best. Despite some victories in friendlies during the lead in to the 2011 SEA Games, Cambodia were blanked 3-0 in four of their preliminary matches in Indonesia against regional rivals such as Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. They were also beaten 3-1 by Malaysia. “We lost before because we were too new to the last SEA Games, but now we’ve trained very well and done good warm-up games against Vietnamese teams. So I hope we’ll get better result in the SEA Games,” Cambodia coach Pou Sarak told the Post. Cambodia will meet the gold medal Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar in Group A at the Zayar Thiri Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw from December 13.phnompenhpost.com.
INDONESIA UPDATED. Skuat inti tim bola voli putri untuk SEA Games XXVII/2013 akhirnya resmi diumumkan, Senin (11/11). Dari 12 nama yang dibawa ke Myanmar, Desember 2013 mendatang, enam di antaranya merupakan atlet asal Jawa Barat.
Pelatih Muhammad Anshori menyatakan pemilihan ini sudah didasarkan atas hasil pemusatan latihan. Pertimbangan juga diambil berdasarkan hasil uji coba dengan tim-tim putra lokal selama ini.
"Setelah ini, kita masih akan ada beberapa uji coba lagi dengan tim-tim putra lain, seperti tim asal Maluku di Jakarta," kata Anshori.
Kepala Bidang Pembinaan dan Prestasi (Binpres) Persatuan Bola Voli Seluruh Indonesia (PBVSI) Yamin Nuriman menyatakan uji coba dengan tim putra diplot bisa meningkatkan kesiapan tim dari segi fisik dan teknik untuk meraih medali di SEA Games Myanmar.
"Secara performa, tim putri mengalami kemajuan dari segi fisik dan teknik," kata Yamin kepada Media Indonesia.
Ia pun berharap tim bola voli putri Indonesia mencetak kejutan di SEA Games XXVII/2013. Tim besutan M. Anshori itu dinilai bisa meraih medali perak dari target semula yang hanya medali perunggu.
Hal tersebut diungkapkan berdasarkan raihan tim putri kala melakoni Asian Women Volleyball Championship 2013, di Thailand, September lalu.
Meski hanya peringkat ke-10 Asia, Indonesia masuk tiga besar Asia Tenggara bersama Thailand dan Vietnam. Yamin pun berharap timnas putri bisa menumbangkan Vietnam sehingga membuka peluang untuk masuk ke final dan kemungkinan besar menghadapi Thailand.
"Berdasarkan hasil kemarin, kami menargetkan putri supaya bisa mengalahkan Vietnam. Soal hasil, nanti kita lihat di lapangan," imbuh Yamin.
Di SEA Games XXVI/2011 lalu, tim voli putri Merah-Putih meraih perunggu setelah menumbangkan Laos di perebutan tempat ketiga. Meski minim uji coba internasional, PBVSI tetap menargetkan Amalia Fajrina dkk mampu melampaui prestasi sebelumnya.
Tim Voli Putri SEA Games 2013
1. Amalia Fajrina
2. Yola Yuliana
3. Tri Retno Mutiara
4. Siska Putri
5. Maya Kurnia Indri
6. Wilda Siti NF
7. Asih Titi Pangestuti
8. Novriali Yami
9. Nandita Ayu Salsabila
10. Dewi Wulandari
11. Komang Bumi Rekta
12. Zara Lautania.
