Philippine men spikers ready for SEA Games gold medal hunt anew

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine men's volleyball team is primed for another deep run in the 31st Southeast Asian Games after a surprise silver medal finish in the 2019 edition of the Games in Manila.

Despite having been sidelined for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic, head coach Dante Alinsunurin believes that the team is ready to plunge back into action against their regional rivals after returning to international competition last year.

"Medyo nagkaproblema lang tayo nung pandemic. Pero last year naman, nakahabol na kami. Then ngayong taon, mas nakaprepare na kami. Naibalik na namin kung ano yung mga nawala samin," Alinsunurin said on Tuesday during a press conference organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.

Not only does Alinsunirin believe that their back in form, but he also said that with some weeks to go before the biennial meet unfurls in Hanoi by May, the team has enough time to fine-tune even more.

The team is heading to Qatar on March 20 to train for the competition and the tactician sees this as an opportunity to fill out the gaps that were there in 2019.

"Pagdating ngayon sa Qatar, mas madadagdagan pa [yung skills] pagdating dito sa magiging exposure namin," he said.

"Tapos siguro mas madedevelop pa namin yung mga naging pagkukulang namin nung SEA Games [2019]," he added.

Now with their eyes on the top prize after falling just a hairline short, Alinsunirin and the team plan to pull out all the stops.

"Na-address na namin kung ano yung mga pagkakamali namin nung SEA Games [2019]... Laban parin kami pagdating ngayong SEA Games [in May]," he said.

It is not only the men's team who will be able to prepare overseas ahead of the biennial meet.

The women's side is set to have intensive training in Brazil in April after the Premiere Volleyball League wraps up.

The men's and women's beach volleyball teams, meanwhile, are already in Brisbane, Australia for their respective training camps.