If looks could kill

Believe it or not, the Big Dome hasn’t hosted a volleyball event in its 42-year history. Today will mark the debut of the sport at the Araneta Coliseum and 2002 10th World Grand Prix Manila leg organizer Noli Eala says he expects the building to rock like it’s never rocked before.

Eala, a lawyer popularly known as a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) broadcaster and TV news presentor at IBC-13, is sparing no expense in making the three-day, six-match series an extravaganza to remember. As overall in-charge of the project, Eala is involved in practically everything that has to do with the weekend tournament. Ask him anything about it and he’ll recite what you want to know by heart, from the top of his head–the court dimensions, how big each streamer is, the players to watch, where each centavo of the P12 Million budget is going, who the sponsors are, and so on.

Visiting officials from the International Volleyball Federation are amazed that Eala doesn’t refer to notes when he talks about the specifics of the tournament.

A few days ago, Eala joined his stagehands in assembling the taraflex volleyball court which was laid out over the Robbins basketball hardwood at the Big Dome. That’s what you call hands-on supervision. Araneta officials agreed to drill two holes on the floor as permanent fixtures for a volleyball net, an indication that the management expects to host more volleyball matches in the future.

Eala’s company ArianWorks is behind the Grand Prix’ return here after a one-year absence. The Grand Prix was inaugurated in 1993 and made its first appearance here the next year. Then, Manila hosted again in 1999 and 2000.

Under the Grand Prix format, eight teams play a series of eliminations in legs hosted by various countries. This year, the first round was played in Chengdu, China, and in Tokyo. Russia won the Chengdu leg with wins over the US, Cuba, and China. Brazil took the Tokyo leg, beating Germany, Thailand, and Japan.

Manila and Bangkok are hosting separate second round legs. Macau and Taipei will take care of the third round. The finals will be held in Hong Kong on Aug. 1-4 with host China battling the top three finishers in the preliminaries for the $150,000 grand prize. In all, the Grand Prix will give away prizes amounting to $1.04 Million.

For the Manila leg, the winner pockets $40,000. Runner-up claims $40,000, third placer $20,000 and the tailender $15,000. So nobody leaves empty-handed.

Eala mobilized 70 people from ArianWorks, 150 from the Philippine Amateur Volleyball Association (PAVA) and 150 from Viva Vintage Sports to form the backbone of the Grand Prix working group. The Big Dome has done its share of sprucing up to welcome the visiting volleybelles–the lockerrooms are fit for a queen. And Eala says some 10 phone lines are being connected with internet facilities for reporters at courtside.

Eala notes that tickets are fairly priced–P600 to P500 to P350 to P250 to P100. Two matches are scheduled today, tomorrow and Sunday.

With the backroom work in place, now it’s up to the girls to bring in the fans. From all indications, it looks like they’ll get the job done–they’re certified crowd drawers.

Last Wednesday, two girls from each of the four participating teams were introduced to fans at the Megamall where they played parlor games with Asi Taulava and PBA slam dunk king Joey Mente. The girl were mobbed by autograph seekers at the end of the 45-minute show which also featured University of Sto. Tomas cheerdancers.

The eight girls were all eye-catching knockouts–Luciana Nascimento and Karin Rodrigues of Brazil, Angelina Gruen and Sylvia Roll of Germany, Miyuki Takahashi and Megumi Kawamura of Japan, and Tatiana Gorochkova and Natalia Safronova of Russia.

The favorite of the male oglers was clearly Safronova.

The Russian hotshot is blond, light-eyed, and tall–she’s 6-3. She has a soft, disarming smile that will send shivers down a red-blooded male’s backbone. If tennis has Kournikova, volleyball has Safronova. But don’t let her looks deceive you. Safronova, 23, is a killer–in a recent exhibition against the US, she delivered 14 points, all on spikes, to power Russia to a five-set thriller. Literally, Safronova has looks to kill.

More than the beauties, Eala promises volleyball action at its best. Russia is a two-time Grand Prix champion and Brazil has won it thrice. Oddsmakers tip Russia to top the Manila leg–it’s the only team to finish in the top three in the last six Grand Prix and is ranked No. 1 by the international federation. Brazil is in a period of transition but proved its mettle in the Tokyo leg. Japan is the darkhorse and will lean on its impressive showing in last year’s Grand Champions Cup where it beat Brazil, South Korea and the US while losing only to Russia and China to claim the bronze. Germany, a one-time Olympic silver medallist, lost only once in the Tokyo leg and that was a five-set heartbreaker to Brazil. Coach Hee Wan Lee’s squad is a legitimate title contender, too.

Eala took a one-week leave from his broadcasting chores to concentrate on the Grand Prix. He says next year, ArianWorks will attempt to organize an Asian beach volleyball circuit and a local women’s volleyball league with imports so that Brazilian Leila Barros, who has retired from international play, could be lured to stage a comeback.

Eala would’ve liked to take a rest after Sunday’s matches but he’s been asked to sit on the broadcast pool panel covering President Arroyo’s State of the Nation address in Congress this Monday and like the Grand Prix, he wouldn’t miss that for the world.