BANGKOK, Thailand, 9 August 2006 - The Thai women’s volleyball team are moving into top gear as the 2006 World Grand Prix, the world’s premier women’s volleyball tournament, approaches.

The Volleyball Association of Thailand (VAT) in conjunction with Thai Beverage Marketing Company held a press conference on August 9 on Thailand's hosting of the third week of the World Grand Prix at the Nimibutr Gymnasium from 1-3 September.

Four teams – the United States of America, Russia, South Korea and hosts Thailand – will play in a single round-robin to vie for the top honour in the Bangkok leg, berths to play in the Finals in Italy and cash prizes.

Prommin Thawatchainun and Kij Pruekcha-oom, both of them vice presidents of the VAT, jointly chaired the press conference at the Radisson Hotel. Guests of honour at the meeting were Dhossapol Issarangkura na Ayuddhya, Senior Product Manager of Thai Beverage Marketing and VAT’s secretary-general Shanrit Wongprasert.

According to Shanrit, this is the fifth consecutive time for the Thai women’s team to get the FIVB’s green light to test their expertise against the world’s 11 best teams in the World Grand Prix.

"It’s also a great honour that we (Thailand) have been selected to host the third-week competition of this year’s World Grand Prix. An estimated Bt6-million budget (around US$153,846) including the cost of Bt3m budget (around US$76,923) for the licence fee has already been used to make the prestigious competition a great success," Shanrit said.

Shanrit added that apart from the above-mentioned four teams, also contesting the tough competition are Olympic champions China, world champs Italy, defending champions Brazil, Cuba, Poland, Dominican Republic, Japan and newcomers Azerbaijan.

The Thai team will leave for Hong Kong on August 15 to be pitted against China, Russia and Azerbaijan in the first-week meet from 18-20 August.

They will next move on to Taiwan to strut their stuff against Cuba, Italy and Azerbaijan in the second week of the meet between from 25-27 August.

The Thai girls then return to their homeland to compete in the third week of the World Grand Prix, where they are due to take on Russia, the United States and South Korea from 1-3 September.

"We have trained intensively in preparation for the uphill task in the World Grand Prix. Despite the fact that we are playing the world’s best teams, I’m still upbeat that my girls will do their best," said Thai head coach Suttichai Chanbunchee.

"A place in the Finals in Italy is likely to be a difficult mission for us. I just told my girls to give their all-out in every match they are taking part in.

"After we had a let-down last year to finish at the bottom of the 12-team standing, I think my players have gained valuable experience. We are coming back a bit stronger this time and I think my team have something to prove."