Philippine men's volleyball team eyes Qatar training camp to ramp up SEA Games preps

The Philippine national men's volleyball team is leaving no stones unturned as they try to end the country's gold medal drought in the Southeast Asian Games.

Head coach Dante Alinsunurin revealed that the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) is eyeing to send the squad to a training camp in Qatar in preparation for the Vietnam Games set on May 12 to 23 in Hanoi.

However, the decorated mentor did not delve into details as they are still waiting for the formal go-signal from the federation.

"We haven't started with the training yet, maybe this week or next week," Alinsunurin told GMA News Online in a message on Wednesday.

"I don't have the full details yet but they plan to send us to a training camp in Qatar."

PNVF released in January the training pool for both men's and women's teams as well as the beach volleyball squads who will represent the country come the biennial meet.

The men's team was hardly tweaked, still bannered by players who gave the country a silver medal during the 2019 SEA Games. Skipper John Vic De Guzman will continue to lead the nationals alongside veterans Ysay Marasigan, Kim Malabunga, Rex Intal, Francis Saura, Jessi Lopez, Mark Alfafara, and Ish Polvorosa.

Also included in the pool were Marck Espejo, Bryan Bagunas, and Jao Umandal, who are all currently playing as imports overseas.

Alinsunurin said the troika has bared their commitment to be available when they compete in the upcoming SEA Games.

Espejo and Bagunas are in Japan V. League, reinforcing FC Tokyo and Oita Miyoshi, respectively, while Umandal is boosting Bani Jamra in Bahrain.

—MGP, GMA News