2010 FIVB World Club Championships

Fourteen teams ready to vie for glory in Doha

With the General Technical Meeting organized in the splendid scenario of the Ramada Plaza having set the tone for the stellar competition which is coming up in the next few days, we may recall the illustrious “alea iacta est” pronounced by Caesar to state that finally everything is ready for the start of the 2010 FIVB Club World Championships here in the State of Qatar.

Doha, and namely the “Al-Gharafa” sports hall, will be the venue of this world-class tournament starring representatives from all continents embarking on their quest for the crown that was retained last year by Italy’s Trentino BetClic. On the other hand, this is a very special moment for the international Volleyball family as well because the women’s competition is being re-installed after a 16-year-long break and six teams will vie for international supremacy here in Doha.

Mr. Aleksandar Boricic, FIVB Executive Vice President and President of the Control Committee, chaired the Technical Meeting that was attended by all 14 participating teams even though some – namely those from Europe - had only a few delegates on site as they are still descending on Qatar after completing their last games for the 2011 CEV Champions League. A very warm address was also given by the President of the Qatar Volleyball Association, Mr. Khalid Ali Al-Mawlawi, who re-asserted the intention of the local organizers to turn this Championship into a splendid and first class Volleyball festival.

Right after the Technical Meeting, a press conference was staged at the Ramada Plaza Hotel with all coaches being invited to express their feelings and expectations before they start their journey and quest for glory.

“We have been devoting a lot of attention to the preparation of this competition," Adel Mohmed, the Algerian-born mentor of Al-Arabi Doha, said. "We play at home and we feel the responsibility to display a good performance for our fans. Most of my players competed at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, but after they came back from China we started our training and we have been working very hard for the past 15 days."

The Qataris will join a preliminary Pool starring also Al-Ahly from Egypt, Iran’s Paykan and Poland’s star-studded team PGE Skra Belchatow. The Egyptians are playing at the tournament for the first time after Zamalek – another Egyptian club – had represented Africa in Doha last year. Coach Ibrahim Fakhreldin did not hide his pride for being part of this elite family but also recalled the long and much decorated history of his club, whose roster includes also Australian Shane Alexander.

Jacek Nawrocki, the mentor of PGE Skra, traveled to Doha after his side stamped an impressive series of wins both in the 2011 CEV Champions League as well as in the national league. However, this is not any guarantee for success here, he says

“I really want my players to forget what they have done so far because this is a completely different tournament and story," the coach stated. "Last year we finished second and certainly our ambition is to make it once again to the final game." The Poles will play their first game on Thursday against Paykan, a young Iranian side that is making its second appearance in a row at the Club World Championships.

The other Pool will feature two real powerhouses in defending champion Trentino BetClic of Italy and Dinamo Moscow of Russia. Both teams are still on their way to Doha after they secured a couple of wins in their last European games but the general manager for the Italian club, waiting for his team to show up, said he would love to enjoy a tournament similar to last year, and to possibly conclude with the crown being retained by his side.

Drean Bolivar of Argentina is representing South America in this competition and coach Javier Weber was more than happy to be here with his young team.

“We are honored to be part of this competition," he said on Tueday. "I have a young team but most of my players are included in the Argentinean national team whose progresses have been evident in the past few years, so we are here to test our ambitions and go for a good campaign."

The starting field is completed by USA's Paul Mitchell, whose coach Gary Sato praised the decision of NORCECA to choose his side to represent that area here in Doha. “We are extremely pleased to be here, my team is young but nevertheless we’ll be giving our best on court," he said.

With the women’s competition being re-installed after 16 years, six teams will compete for the crown in Doha. Italy’s Foppapedretti Bergamo and Turkey’s Fenerbahce Istanbul certainly want to have a shot at the trophy after they dominated the last edition of the CEV Champions League. However, Brazil’s Sollys Osasco will be a very tough opponent to contend with as the club arrives with some of the most accomplished Brazilian stars, such as Jaqueline or Natalia.

Three more teams representing Asia, Africa and NORCECA will also test their value here in Doha. Kenya Prisons’ coach David Lungaho said his side is very young, but “we’ll try to learn as much as possible from this experience and any set won will be a bonus."

Thailand’s Federbrau is also more than delighted to be part of this family and the feeling was echoed by coach of the Dominican Republic's Mirador, Marcos Kwiek, who said: “It is a real honor to be here and compete at the Club World Championships after 16 years have passed since the last edition. We’ll do our best to represent our Confederation here."

Mirador claims opening game in Doha
Dominican Mirador claimed the opening match of the 2010 FIVB Club World Championships at the “Al-Gharafa” sports hall in Doha by edging out Kenya Prisons in straight sets (25-20, 25-11, 25-17). That was a key victory for the Caribbeans as the outcome of this game is most probably likely to determine the second team making to the semis from Pool B taking into consideration that Italy’s Foppapedretti Bergamo stands out as the absolute pre-favorite going into the prelims. Bet scorer was Annerys Vargas Valdez with 14 points but a relevant contribution to the success of the Dominicans descended also from the massive haul of African mistakes (22).

After a very long hiatus, some 16 years since the last edition held in São Paulo, a total of 6 teams were finally back on court to compete for the Club World Championship and the honor to officially open the tournament went to Dominican Mirador and Kenya Prisons, i.e. the two sides that have the responsibility to represent and carry the hopes of NORCECA and Africa respectively here in Doha.

Their common pattern is a very young roster, with the average standing at 23 years, and a pretty limited international experience, although quite a few of the Africans did recently compete at the FIVB World Championship for the Kenyan national team. In front of an audience composed mainly by school pupils, the match started at a pretty low pace with many silly errors moving up the score. Mirador, nevertheless, was a little bit more consistent and got a first positive break (12:8) after a winning serve of Candida Arias Perez. As they already did at the World Champs in Japan, the Kenyans were loudly celebrating every single point they scored and with the Dominican reception faltering a few times, they eventually cruised past in the score and set the pace by the second mandatory stop (16:13) with an ace of Diana Khisa. The last word had yet to be said in the opening set, Mirador leveled the match at 18 and then – with a couple of tricky serves the Kenyan reception could not handle properly – got back the lead at 21:19. Ana Yorkira Binet called for two set balls at 24:20 after two more winning serves and she eventually stretched her positive performance by adding up another ace to her personal count to silver her first chance to close the set.

With Italy’s Norda Foppapedretti BERGAMO being the absolute pre-favorite of this Pool, the game was mostly going to determine the side that will be qualifying for the semis coming up on Monday, so both teams resumed to the court very focused, trying to raise up their efficiency, especially in reception. Mirador succeeded pretty well in that task especially by putting under pressure – from the serving zone - the Kenyan receivers, who were once again the main and most evident weakness of the African side (8:2). The Dominicans kept on scoring (15:6) and did not slow down their pace until the final 25-11 quickly appeared on the scoreboard with a great help stemming from the never ending flurry of Kenyan mistakes.

The Dominicans were playing this morning in front of a couple of illustrious guests, i.e. their Ambassador to Qatar as well as NORCECA President Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, and they certainly did not disappoint their expectations as they always controlled the game also in set nr 3. Even though Kenya Prisons almost leveled the count right before the second technical break, Mirador stayed focused enough to stretch the margin to a safe 20:16; best scorer Annerys Vargas Valdez spiked from the wing and the match was over with her winning jump serve for the final 3:0.

"We are always there to go for victory" says Dominican coach Marcos Kwiek

Daniel Lungaho, Kenya Prisons coach, said: “Everything we learn here is good for us, especially as this is the first time that we compete at such high level as a club. Our reception was a bit too weak today and could finalize our combinations I attack but we fully profit and enjoy being here and learn from the best Volleyball players in the world”.

Captain Brackcides Khadambi: “It was a good game although we lost. We hope to play even better in the next game against Bergamo”.

Marcos Kwiek, the mentor of Mirador, stated: “Although we won, that was not an excellent game, technically speaking. We also made too many errors and we have a very short time to make all necessary adjustments before we play the Italians”. Questioned about his ambitions for the competition, he added: “Every time we enter a tournament, Mirador is always there to go for a victory. We came here with that goal, for sure. Today we had some problems as we are still suffering from the jet lag and we are not used to play at 10 in the morning”. About his Kenyan opponent: “You really see that the girls are fighting for every single point and they play with much joy and that’s nice. If they continue working hard for the next 3 or 4 years, I am sure they will get to a different level and will be able to compete with the best teams in the world”.

Captain Milagros Cabral de la Cruz concluded: “We are happy with this win, our attack and block worked very well but we have to adjust a bit our reception. We are very much looking forward to the game against the Italians”.