Filipino volleyball fans get to watch the teams that figured in Olympic gold medal matches three times before.
World No. 2 Brazil runs into No. 4 Italy in Week 3 of the Volleyball Nations League which starts Tuesday with no less than First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos making the ceremonial serve at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Brazil and Italy take the court at 3 p.m. in a showdown of Olympic finalists with the Brazilians owning a 3-0 record over the Italians. They played in the gold medal matches in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Crowd favorite Japan, ranked No. 7 in the world, and No. 25 China complete the opening-day doubleheader at 7 p.m.
This marks the second consecutive year that the Philippine National Volleyball Federation is hosting the VNL, the sport’s most prestigious competition organized by the International Volleyball Federation FIVB and the Volleyball World.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard Bachmann and Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto Rubiano are also expected in the opening ceremony.
Eight of the top 25 teams in the world are seeing action in this Week 3 of the men’s VNL. The other nations are world No. 1 Poland, No. 9 Slovenia, No. 12 The Netherlands and No. 15 Canada.
Canada and The Netherlands clash at 3 p.m., while Poland tests Slovenia at 7 p.m. at Wednesday’s resumption of this tourney.
The Philippine leg serves as the final and critical stage of the VNL’s preliminary round that will determine the top eight squads which will advance to the final stage from 19 to 24 July in Poland.
