Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) Beijing Olympics gold medalist Brazil highlights the four-team World Grand Prix Taipei 2010 that will be played in Taiwan on Aug. 20, a rare chance for local volleyball fans to see the best in the sport.
Brazil, Taiwan, Puerto Rico and Poland will play a round robin at the National Taiwan University Sports Center in Taipei from Aug. 20-22 as part of this year's World Grand Prix, organizer Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association (CTVA) said Wednesday at a press conference.
The World Grand Prix is an annual women's volleyball competition of 12 teams, four each from America, Europe and Asia.
It consists of two phases -- a preliminary round with a system of rotating host cities and one or more final rounds with one or more host nations.
In this year's event, the preliminary round spans three weeks, with the top six teams qualifying for the final round.
Taiwan, which is appearing in the event for the third time ever and the first time since 2007, has high hopes after being added to the event as a replacement for South Korea, which decided not to enter the Grand Prix this year, said CTVA secretary-general Chang Chin-jong.
The CTVA's main goal is for the Taiwan women's national volleyball team to finish in the top three in the biennial Asian championships -- the most important event aside from the Olympic Games to local sports administrators -- something Taiwan has never done.
The CTVA hoped to change that when it hired respected Japanese head coach Norimasa Sakakuchi to coach the women's junior team in 2006.
Sakakuchi coached the juniors to a fourth place at the Asian Junior Championships in 2006 and to a bronze medal finish in the same tournament two years later before taking over the national team.
Although Taiwan's national side could only manage a sixth-place finish at the Asian Women's Championships in 2009, it continues to train eight months every year and hopes for better performances in major competitions in the future, Chang said.
But it will not be easy, as seen in Taiwan's performance in the first round of this year's Grand Prix. It lost consecutive matches to Brazil, Italy and Japan in Brazil this past weekend, failing to win a set.
Yet Chang remains optimistic that Taiwan can eventually stand on the podium in an Asian Championships.
"If we work hard, the goal is not impossible, seen by Taiwan's surprising fourth-place finish in last week's 2010 Asian Men's Volleyball Championships," he said.
The CTVA hopes that the appearance of Brazil will attract more local fans, Chang said. Brazil has proved that it has replaced Cuba as the superpower in women's volleyball through its dominance in Beijing and by winning the last two and five of the last six Grand Prix.
Taiwan is scheduled to meet 2009 European Championship bronze medalist Poland on Aug. 20, Brazil on Aug. 21, and Puerto Rico, ranked 14th in the world on Aug. 22 in Taipei.
The top five teams in the preliminary round and host China will enter the final round, which will be played from Aug. 25-29 in Ningbo, China. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls