BRAZIL RUSSIA IN VOLLEYBALL OPENER; TICKETS ON SALE

BRAZIL and Russia see action on opening day even as organizers announced the sale of tickets starting today for the World Women's Volleyball Grand Prix next month.

Tickets will be sold at Ticket World located in all National Bookstore outlets.

Ringside tickets will be sold at P500 each. Courtside and lower level tickets are offered each for P400 and P300, respectively.

Brazil takes on powerhouse Italy while Russia takes on Korea in a blockbuster curtain raiser on Aug. 18 at the 7,000-seat Philsports in Pasig City.

While Brazil's Leila Barros became the darling of the crowd last year, Italy's Maurizia Cacciatori was a looker and drew raves from thousands of male volleyball buffs all over the archipelago.

The much-awaited Brazil-Italy tussle is set at 6 p.m. after the 4 o'clock opener between Korea and Russia, the defending champion which outlasted Brazil in last year's finals.

The opening ceremonies of this Pagcor-supported event begin at 3 p.m., with San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, chair of the organizing committee, declaring the games open.

On Aug. 19, Russia meets Italy in the curtain raiser at 5 p.m. followed by the 7 p.m. match between Brazil and Korea.

The expected return bout between Russia and Brazil will be held the following day after the Korea-Italy match at 4 p.m. in this series organized by the Philippine Amateur Volleyball Association chaired by Benny Gopez, whose successful bid to stage the smashing Grand Prix inaugural here last year immediately drew admiration from world volleyball officials.

Cuba, Japan, the United States and China will join the four on Aug. 24-27 at Philsports for the final round of the Grand Prix, which is a prelude to the Olympic Games in Sydney in September.

The twin events come on the heels of Manila's successful staging of the event last year topped by Brazil, which attracted thousands of Filipino fans who swooned endlessly over the disarming ways of Barros and the graceful charm of Cacciatori.

Both are returning to power their respective teams in the Grand Prix series which stakes a staggering $1 million as prize money put up by the International Volleyball Federation.

The events will be covered by Viva-Vintage Sports Inc., the same outfit which telecasts the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games.

Meanwhile, PBA Commissioner Jun Bernardino yesterday said he cancelled the PBA games set between Aug. 18 and Aug. 27 to give way to the World's Women's Volleyball Grand Prix.