The Philippines hosted the 2014 PLDT HOME Fibr Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship (AMCC), a nine day-long competition with representative teams coming from 16 nations.
Matin Varamin, Iran’s team and defending champion, placed first after defeating Al Rayyan, the Qatari team that consequently took the second spot. The Chinese team Baic Motors won third place. Iran will be the only Asian team to compete in the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Championship at Betim, Brazil in May this year.
It was the first time for the Philippine team to compete in the AMCC. The team, named PLDT HOME TVolution Power Pinoys, finished 7th after defeating the Lebanese Zahraa Al Minaa in the final day of the competition.
“Everybody contributed to this victory,” said Francis Vicente, coach of the Philippine team. “It was our teamwork which pulled us through.” The Power Pinoys scored 25-19, 26-24, 13-25, 21-25, 15-13 to win over Lebanon.
The team was formed by the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) with the help of SportsCore and PLDT HOME Fibr.
“If not for the support of PLDT HOME Fibr, SportsCore, and the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF), this dream of bringing Philippine volleyball back to its feet wouldn’t be possible. Since it will be our first time to compete in an Asian-level tournament after quite some time, I realized that winning right away will be very impossible. So I looked for players who don’t only have the skills, but also the heart to contend. Although we’re the smallest team, I wanted us to have the biggest fighting heart,” Vicente added.
The games were streamed live at the Mall of Asia Arena and the Cuneta Astrodome powered by PLDT HOME Fibr, and was also broadcasted live on TV5, the official broadcast partner of the games. There was also a replay-on-demand service through th PLDT HOME TVolution. The PVF hopes that the hosting of this athletic event will revitalize the Filipino’s interest in the sport of Volleyball.
PLDT HOME Fibr also brought the PLDT HOME TVolution Power Pinays, the Women’s counterpart of the Power Pinoys to the 2014 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship in Nakhonpathom, Thailand where they placed 8th.
The PLDT HOME TVolution Power Pinoys and Pinays will be competing this May 16,2014 in the upcoming Philippine Superliga Tournament.