Macau, August 01, 2013 - The FIVB World Grand Prix Macao 2013 kicks off at the Macao Forum tomorrow (02 August).  Competing in this year’s event are debutant Bulgaria, home crowd’s favourite China, and former World Grand Prix champions Cuba and the Netherlands.

The Organizing Committee held a press conference and invited the participating teams to meet and share their thoughts with the media.  Mr. José Tavares, President of the Organizing Committee, extended his warmest welcome to the teams and officials and thanked FIVB for their continuous trust in Macao to stage this prestigious competition. He is confident that volleyball fans worldwide will witness some wonderful matches in the next few days.

The head coach and captain of the four teams then in turn shared their thoughts and expectation for the Macao leg and the tournament.

Bulgaria coach Marcello Abbondanza: “It is a great pleasure for my team and I to be in Macao. This is the first time the Bulgaria team competes in the Grand Prix, we want to play good volleyball to honour this opportunity.”

Bulgaria captain Strashimira Filipova: “We are delighted to be here to participate in the FIVB World Grand Prix, we have worked very hard last year to arrive here. For our team, this is the first time to compete in the tournament; we hope to play good volleyball and to enjoy the experience.”

China coach Lang Ping: “I am delighted to return once again and to compete in Macao. The line up of the China team this year includes 4 Olympic players and 8 newcomers, our expectation is for the new players to gain experience from the competition and to play some excellent matches with outstanding teams in the tournament.”

China captain Zhang Lei: “Thank you to everyone in Macao for their support. In the tournament, we hope to bring out our best from the training we had and to demonstrate the style of play and form of the China team and to play some excellent matches.”

Cuba coach Juan Rodriguez: “I am happy to be in Macao, we shall do our upmost to play against the other teams and to give our best performance to the people of Macao.”

Cuba Captain Daymara Lescay: “To echo what the coach just said we shall play the best we can and we shall fight to the very end. We are happy and honoured to be here.”

The Netherlands Coach Gido Vermeulen: ‘’We are honoured to be back in the Grand Prix after the absence of one year, I want to thank the Macao organizing committee for their excellent organization, we are very happy to be here. We are also here this year with a new team and we shall play the best we can.”

The Netherlands Captain Maret Grothues: ‘’It is a great experience for our team to play in the Grand Prix. We are very honoured to be here in Macao and we look forward to play good matches in the tournament.”

During the media Q&A session, when asked about her thoughts as team captain for the first time and the roles of the experienced players in the team, China captain Zhang Lei commented that she is grateful for the trust the coach has in her and at the same time feel the responsibilities that come with the role. The experienced players will lead the team by example and to play and bring out the best form of China.

The first round of matches in Macao starts with Cuba v the Netherlands at 17.00 and China v Bulgaria at 20.30.