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Thu, 01 Jul 2004

JP/Jakarta to host women's v'ball GP

Jakarta to host women's v'ball GP

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta

Indonesia will host a World Volleyball Grand Prix series from July 16 to July 18, featuring four world-caliber women's teams at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium.

The teams are Cuba, Germany, Japan and Russia.

Saptandari Widiyanto, from the organizing committee, said the teams would arrive on July 12 and stay at the Hilton Hotel.

Tickets will be on sale at Rp 20,000 (US$2.1) a piece for regular seats and Rp 30,000 for VIP.

Volleyball fans could also buy a three-day ticket for Rp 100,000.

The first match is scheduled to be played at 3 p.m. The opening day will pit Russia against Japan, and Cuba against Germany.

Germany will play Japan, followed by Russia against Cuba on the second day, while the closing day will see Cuba against Japan and Russia against Germany.

"This is a great chance, especially for local players to learn the game from world-class players. This is such a rare event that we can't miss. The event is expected to impact on local volleyball," Saptandari, who is secretary-general of the Indonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI), told the Jakarta Post.

He said the tournament could also stimulate local people's interest in volleyball and show the world that Indonesia is a safe country.

Several countries still warn their citizens against traveling to Indonesia following a series of bombings in Indonesia over the last few years.

The World Volleyball Grand Prix is the second world volleyball event to be held by the PBVSI in two years, after a world beach volleyball event was staged in Bali last year.

Saptandary went on to say that the four volleyball teams were of relatively equal strength, thus making it difficult to predict which would come out the winner.

"I hope local people will enthusiastically watch, game by game," he said.

Besides Jakarta, Hong Kong and Manila will also host the grand prix on the same dates. Hong Kong is the venue of games among Italy, the US, China and Thailand, while Manila will host Brazil, the Dominican Republic, South Korea and Poland.