Foton eyes semis in AVC tiff

MANILA, Philippines – Foton Pilipinas is looking to come up with at least a semifinal finish when it competes in the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship from September 3-11 at the Alonte Sports Center in Binan City.

Team manager Alvin Lu on Thursday bared that hopes are high on the Tornadoes, who vowed to go all out to surpass the 7th place finish registered by Petron in the previous edition of this prestigious continental tourney where the best Asian club teams collide.

Foton Pilipinas had already kicked off its preparation and is tipped to switch it to a higher gear once imports Lindsay Stalzer and Ariel Usher arrive next month.

So far, showing up consistently in their twice-a-week training are reinforcements Aby Marano of F2 Logistics, Jen Reyes of Petron and Rachel Anne Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga of RC Cola-Army.

Foton stars Santiago, Angeli Araneta, Patty Orendain, Maika Ortiz, Ivy Perez and Rhea Dimaculangan are also training regularly, proving that they are serious in giving other teams a very good fight.

Rounding up the pool are Bia General, Kara Acevedo, EJ Laure, Cherry Rondina and Carol Cerveza. Villet Ponce-de Leon will be the head coach with former national team skipper Ian Fernandez as chief assistant.

The team will be formally launched on July 22 at Crimson Hotel in Alabang.

“We want to have a strong finish, but at the same time we’re also tempering our expectations,” said Lu, who was at the sidelines when Foton clinched the PSL Grand Prix title last year. “We have a strong and fighting team. Making it to the semis is our ultimate goal.”

Foton Pilipinas landed on a relatively light bracket in Group A together with Lien Viet Post Bank of Vietnam and the Hong Kong national team.

But things will get testy in the next round as perennial contenders Taiwan Power of Chinese Taipei, Jakarta Electric PLN of Indonesia, April 25 of North Korea, Zhetysu Almaty of Kazakhstan, Sarmayeh Bank of Iran and a team from Malaysia are expected to give Foton Pilipinas a serious fight.

Reigning champion Bangkok Glass of Thailand is expected to dominate with seasoned international campaigners Pleumjit Thinkaow spearheading the squad powered by rising stars Sutadta Chuewulim, Pornpun Guedpard and Jarasporn Bundasak.

Same goes for last year’s bridesmaid Hisamitsu Springs of Japan, which will parade prolific spiker Miyu Nagaoka, Yuki Ishii and Kotoki Zayasu with powerful Montenegrin winger Tatjana Bokan at the helm.

“This is a very competitive field,” Lu said. “While advancing to the semifinals will be a great achievement, we will still keep on working to make it to the finals and win the crown. After all, we have the home court advantage. We will be playing with the crowd on our side.”