Proliga winner won't go to AVC Cup: PBVSI

Proliga winner won't go to AVC Cup: PBVSI

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The 2003 Proliga winner will not represent Indonesia in the fifth
Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup men's volleyball club
championship, according to a top official of the Indonesian
volleyball governing body here on Friday.

The AVC Cup will be staged at the Bung Karno Indoor Tennis
court in Jakarta from May 20 through May 25, featuring the eight
best Asian clubs from China, Japan, South Korea, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Thailand, Qatar and Indonesia, who is hosting the
event.

Despite having its own national professional volleyball
league, Proliga, the Volleyball Association of Indonesia (PBVSI)
has decided not to send the Proliga winning team to the AVC Cup.

"The AVC Cup will be part of our volleyball activities after
Proliga, but we have decided that the club representing Indonesia
will comprise of select players from the national training center
and the best players from the Proliga clubs," PBVSI chairwoman
Rita Subowo said at a media conference.

With the next Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to commence in
Vietnam this December, Rita said that they did not want to miss
the opportunity to use the Asian Cup as a warm-up event to the
Vietnam meet.

"It's not that we don't appreciate the league winner. It's
because we have a long-term goal -- Vietnam -- that we will opt
to select a team which will also go to the SEA Games," she said.

It is also for the sake of the SEA Games commitment that PBVSI
had opted against foreign players in the AVC Cup, although a
maximum of two will be allowed.

Proliga, which currently has six men's and six women's teams,
will complete its 2003 season in April. The selected players will
undergo a three-week training under the tutelage of Chinese coach
Li Qiujiang.

The league, whose clubs are allowed to use foreign players in
their matches, has just reached mid-season, and before rounding
off this season, an All-Star game will be played in Yogyakarta on
Sunday.

The game will pit team Kratingdaeng against Alkaline, both in
the men's and women's categories.

Star players from three Jakarta-based clubs -- Monas, Phinisi
and Sananta -- comprise the men's Kratingdaeng team, while their
Alkaline opponents are made up of players from Surabaya Flame,
Bandung Tectona and Yogya Gunadarma.

The women's All-Star game will pitch star players from
Jakarta Monas, Jakarta Phinisi and Gresik Phonska on one side
against those from Bandung Artdeco, Bandung Tectona and Yogya
Gunadarma.