The Thailand national women's team presented themselves to the media at an official pre-2010 World Grand Prix press conference in Bangkok on Thursday

Bangkok, Thailand, July 29, 2010 - Thailand coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai admits that his team faces a daunting task ahead of the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix which starts in one week’s time on August 6th.

Thailand, who finished a tournament-best eighth last year, is grouped with China, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico in the Week One venue of Chengdu, China before travelling home to Bangkok to play against USA, Italy and Puerto Rico in Week Two. These two tough assignments are followed by the toughest of the lot, according to Radchatagriengkai, when Thailand take on China, USA and Germany in Hong Kong in the final week of pool play.

World Grand Prix official page

“We have a tough draw this year, but the Pool G battle seems the toughest,” Radchatagriengkai said. “The scoring system has also changed this year, with teams with the straight-set or 3-1 win claiming full three points and 3-2 winners getting only two.
 
“A 3-2 loss also earns us a point in case we force our rival team to play to five sets. Therefore, we have to do our best in every match to make sure we gain vital accumulation points enough to possible make it to the six-team Final Round where we have never advanced,” he added.
 
“The tournament will also serve as the platform for our tougher competitions in the World Championship in Japan this October and the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November.”

Thailand has participated seven times in the FIVB World Grand Prix with a best finish of eighth in 2002 – it’s debut in the tournament - and last year.

A total of 12 strong teams including defending and eight-time champions Brazil, World Grand Champions Cup winners Italy, world No. 4 USA and Asian powerhouse China will battle it out for $1.4m in prize money.

Only top five teams after the three-week completion of the round-robin pool preliminaries plus hosts China will book berths for the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix Finals in Ningbo from August 25-29.