Kurashiki Ablaze marvel at Filipino volleyball fan support

The Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan couldn't help but marvel at the Filipino volleyball fan support as they made their debut in the PVL Invitational Conference at the PhilSports Arena on Saturday, July 22.

Kurashiki Ablaze PVL PHOTO

Kurashiki defeated fellow foreign guest team Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam, 23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-11, to start its semifinal campaign.

“It was such a beautiful PVL debut experience because there were so many fans and cheers. We felt the Filipino love for volleyball,” said Ablaze head coach Hideo Suzuki through an interpreter.

“We know that our next opponent (Cignal) has a lot of fans but we will do our best. Against Kinh Bac, there are so many fans but they headed out as the game progressed. It's a bit sad so next game we will show a better game.”

As Suzuki said, fans, most of them cheering in the Creamline-Cignal game that preceded the Kurashiki-Kinh Bac match, headed out as their game progressed on Saturday evening.

But the Ablaze as well as Bac Ninh arrived at the venue packed by 6,430 fans and from time to time, they were being showered by cheers whenever the cameras got focused on them and their faces flashed at the big screens of the arena.

Tamaru Asaka, who led Kurashiki against Kinh Bac with 29 points, said that her team would enjoy playing here in the Philippines.

“When we arrived at the venue and saw the audience, there were so many, and their cheers were loud. We felt that we would enjoy playing here. Thank you.”