Cocolife, F2, Petron tagged as favorites in PSL Grand Prix 2018

MANILA, Philippines —  Cocolife, Petron and F2 Logistics emerge as heavy favorites when the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix kicks off this Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

 

The souped-up Asset Managers are tipped to make their presence felt, making them a solid force to be reckoned with in this tourney backed by Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, Senoh, Grand Sport and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as official broadcast partner.

 

Cocolife secured the services of Serbian import Sara Klisura from Foton as well as local stars Shawna-Lei Santos, Denice Tan, Danika Gendrauli and Honey Royse Tubino to bolster the veteran crew of Tina Salak, Nerissa Bautista, Mary Jean Balse and star libero Denden Lazaro.

 

Aside from that, the Asset Managers also acquired noted Serbian coach Moro Branislav as replacement of Kungfu Reyes, who will shift his focus on University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP.

 

“All teams have upgraded their respective lineups so this is going to be a tough road for us. We have to prepare hard and be ready. This is going to be a war,” said Branislav, who led Foton to the Grand Prix crown in 2016.

 

Also expected to make waves is Petron.

 

Despite losing bench players like Mina Aganon, April Ross Hingpit, Marivic Meneses and Bang Pineda, the Blaze Spikers remain explosive with the acquisition of Chloe Cortez, Pia Gaiser, Luth Malaluan and Angelica Legacion.

 

Prized imports Lindsay Stalzer, Hillary Hurley and Yuri Fukuda will also be back to join the already loaded roster that includes Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Frances Molina, Mika Reyes and Rhea Dimaculangan in their hunt in this tourney that will formally open at the Sta. Rosa City Sports Complex on February 24.

 

“Our campaign last year ended in a heart-break so we will try our best to win it this time,” said Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos, recalling their massive meltdown in the best-of-three finals series against F2 Logistics last year.

 

True enough, reigning champion Cargo Movers also remain strong.

 

De La Salle University stars Kianna Dy, Dawn Macandili and Majoy Baron will sit out but, F2 Logistics still retained its strength with the acquisition of middle blocker Lourdes Clemente and the return of imports Kennedy Bryan of United States and Maria Jose Perez of Venezuela.

 

They also added that Japanese libero Minami Yoshioka to fill the defensive void created by Macandili’s absence.

 

“We may have lost some players, but I think we’ll be fine,” said F2 Logistics coach Ramil de Jesus, adding that Kim Fajardo, Cha Cruz Aby Marano and the returning Ara Galang will still be at the helm of their campaign.