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Men’s seated volleyball team set to defend title

Cambodia’s para men’s seated volleyball team is confident that it will successfully defend its title at the 12th ASEAN Para Games.

The Cambodian team won gold at the 11th ASEAN Para Games last year after beating Indonesia in the final. This year, the team is confident that it will bring home gold for the second time at home.

Cambodia is the host nation for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and 12th ASEAN Para Games.

“We are ready to defend the title. I don’t think there are many challenges. We’ll be able to successfully defend the gold medal,” Yoem Vanna, head coach of the men’s seated volleyball team, said.

He said players and coaches have been working together to improve the team both technically and mentally for the Para Games since returning from Indonesia last year.

“We saw that we had some problems in defence the tournament last year. But we already fixed it,” he said.

“The players are more confident to play at home.  I hope there will be many fans at the venues. Their support is really important to help them to perform well during the competition.”

At this year’s tournament, there are five teams—Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar participating in volleyball competitions.

The coach said Indonesia remains the toughest opponent to take on.

“But based on our players’ hard work and determination, I am sure we’ll do well,” he said.

Oeun Nut, 26, is a sitting volleyball player representing Cambodia at the 12th ASEAN Para Games.

This is the third time for him to be featured at the tournament. His first appearance was in Malaysia in 2017 when he helped the Cambodian men’s sitting volleyball team win a silver medal. And then he won the gold medal with the team at the 11th ASEAN Para Games last year.

“It’s a great moment. I couldn’t believe we did it because playing against Indonesia in the final was not easy. They’re a strong team in the region,” Nut said.

Like the coach, he said, his team will win the gold medal again at this year’s tournament. But he urged the team to be humble and keep training hard.

“The team needs to keep focusing on training. We have worked hard. Other teams have also trained hard. So we should respect our opponents,” he said.

There is only one day left until the official opening ceremony of the 12th ASEAN Para Games which is held in Cambodia for the first time. The event was cancelled for two consecutive times – in 2019 in the Philippines and in 2021 in Vietnam.

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com