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Pertamina Energi, Popsivo in grudge match for top
The Pertamina Proliga volleyball tournament is entering the third week of its first round with the three-day matches to begin Friday at Ken Arok Sports Compound in Malang
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he Pertamina Proliga volleyball tournament is entering the third week of its first round with the three-day matches to begin Friday at Ken Arok Sports Compound in Malang.
Heated battle is expected from the match between defending champion Jakarta Pertamina Energi team and Jakarta PGN Popsivo for the top place in the women's standings.
After the first and second week of the competition in Balikpapan and Palembang respectively, Pertamina Energi leads the seven-team standings with 11 points, but second-placed PGN Popsivo has the chance to capture the lead when both meet on Saturday.
'This will be a crucial match because the two teams have shown their best during the previous games. Jakarta Pertamina Energi is ready to go all-out in each and every game,' said Pertamina Energi coach Octavian on Thursday.
The Jakarta Electric PLN team is in third with seven points while Petrokimia Gresik and Jakarta Bank DKI stay in fourth and fifth position, respectively, followed by Jakarta BNI 46, which has only been able to collect one point, and Manokwari Valeria Papua Barat with zero points.
The men's teams has seen tight competition among five teams consisting of Jakarta Pertamina Energi, last year's winner Surabaya Samator, Jakarta Electric PLN, Jakarta BNI 46 and Palembang Bank Sumsel Babel.
The Jakarta Electric PLN team leads the provisional standing with six points, followed by Surabaya Samator, Jakarta Pertamina Energi and Jakarta BNI 46, which hold four points each to share the second, third and fourth positions. PLG Bank Sumsel Babel comes last with three points.
The Rp 1 billion (US$78,000) competition is held in eight cities for six rounds over nine weeks.
'I can assure you that the competition will be tight because all the participating teams have relatively the same chance [of winning the tournament]. Besides they have learned each other's strengths and weaknesses,' said tournament director Hanny Surkatty.
The chairman of the Jakarta Electric PLN team, Danni Irawan, lauded Hanny, saying that it was now a matter of which team would be able to take advantage of every opportunity and build momentum in each match.
'They must give their all and focus on every game,' he said.
According to the assistant manager of external relations for Pertamina's marketing operation region V, Heppy Wulansari, the volleyball tournament had shown great improvement in terms of attracting spectators.
'We sold out for the three-day matches at the previous events in Balikpapan and Palembang,' she said.
The matches in Balikpapan and Palembang ran from Feb. 6 to 8 and from Feb. 13 to 15, respectively.
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'They must give their all and focus on every game.'
