Volleyball's Proliga set to enter final stages
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After having completed the regular matches played since February, the 2003 volleyball league, locally known as Proliga, will enter the semifinal and final stages this week.
The league features six men's and six women's teams. The regular season involves 60 matches contested in rotation in four cities: Bandung (West Java), Yogyakarta, Gresik (East Java) and Jakarta.
The semifinal matches will be staged on Friday, pitting Jakarta Phinisi against Yogya Gunadarma, and defending champion Bandung Tectona against Surabaya Flame in the men's division.
The women's final four matches draw Bandung Art Deco against defending champion Jakarta Monas and Jakarta Phinisi against Gresik Phonska. The final will be on Sunday.
Jakarta Phinisi, which is spearheaded by national veteran Loudry Maspaitella, looks to carry on what it did during the regular matches that saw it win seven games and lose three games to top the standings with 17 points.
Newcomer Yogya Gunadarma, which finished in fourth place, was aware of its prospect but refused to be overawed by its opponent's strength.
"I know the Phinisi players are quite experienced with their national-level coach. But I have warned our players not to be tricked by their fast-moving playing style," Putut Marhaento, the head coach of Gunadarma, said during a media conference here on Wednesday.
"I liken Phinisi to sprinters while we are long-distance runners. They may be unstoppable at the start, but we'll try to ambush them later when they run out of gas," Putut said.
The game between Tectona and Flame will be a repeat of the 2002 final, in which the former was 0-2 down before fighting back to win the remaining sets.
The women's division has produced a surprise leader in the shape of Bandung Art Deco. The West Javanese side lost only once to dominate the standings with a formidable 19 points.
Despite the outstanding run, team captain Veronica tried to play down the team's ambitions.
"Now that we are in the semifinals, we are looking to do our best," she said.
She said her Chinese teammates Li Wen and He Shan should have no fitness problems when marshaling attacks.
Nandi Nata, Monas manager, said that his side would strive to defend the championship. "That is also a form of making amends for our modest performance during the regular matches," Nandi said.
Monas avoided being eliminated by finishing in fourth place with 15 points, four behind Art Deco.
Women's Phinisi and Gresik Phonska have drawn each other after both ended up in second and third places respectively with 16 points each. Phinisi outpointed its rival on set tie-breaks.
Phinisi is looking to improve on 2002, when it took third position.
"We have been preparing hard since early this year, and our teamwork seems to be improving from week to week. We are ready to do better than we did last year," said defender Ana Yohana.