T

he seventh season of the 10-team Proliga Volleyball championships will be holding court from Feb. 26 to May 16 in eight cities nationwide.

“This league has through the years supported the development of our volleyball,” Indonesian
Volleyball Association (PBVSI) chairman Heyzer Harsono said Tuesday.

“It allows players to gain confidence to excel internationally.”

At the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos in December, the Indonesian men’s indoor and beach volleyball teams contributed two gold and one silver medal.

The indoor team also finished sixth at last year’s Asian Championships.

The Proliga, whose key sponsor is cigarette company Sampoerna, and which boasts the top professional clubs, was first held in 2004.

This year, it opens in Surakarta, Central Java, on Feb. 26, before moving on to Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Palembang (South Sumatra), Cirebon and Bandung (West Java), and Gresik and Malang (East Java).

The grand final will take place in Jakarta on May 16.

The five men’s teams in the league are defending champion Surabaya Samator, Jakarta Sananta, Palembang Bank Sumsel Babel, Jakarta BNI 46 and Bantul Yuso.

The five women’s teams are defending champion Jakarta Electric PLN, Jakarta BNI 46, Gresik Petrokimia, Jakarta Popsivo Polwan and newcomer Jakarta TNI AU.

“We want to improve from our third-place finish last year and become champions,” Bank Sumsel team manager Abbas Akbar said Tuesday.

He added he had signed on international talent in the form of Slovakian Julius Sabo and Brazilian Bruno Amorim da Silva to cover for team regulars Koko Darkuncoro and Suratno.

Koko and Suratno are the country’s top beach volleyball pair, and are preparing for the Asian
Games in China in November and the Asian Beach Games in Oman in December.

Their preparations include playing Asia-Pacific Tour events in Thailand and Indonesia in April, which clashes with the Proliga schedule.

“They’ll play the first fifth of the Proliga, then they’ll head off for the beach volleyball games,” said coach Slamet Mulyanto.

“The PBVSI’s priority is the national team,” Heyzer said about the overlapping schedules.

Koko and regular beach volley-ball partner Andi Ardiansyah had earlier been tipped to win gold at the Asian Games, after winning silver in at the 2002 Games in South Korea.

The pair also won the inaugural Asian Beach Games in Bali in 2008.