Cebu City, Philippines, March 2, 2005 – Two of the favourites at the 2006 Men's Volleyball World Championships First Round Tournament (Asia Pool C) in Cebu City - the Philippines and Indonesia - made rousing starts to their campaigns with convincing straight sets victories over Macau and Tonga respectively on the opening day of the tournament on Wednesday.
Pic: The opening ceremony in Cebu City
The Philippines beat Macau 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-19) thanks to a brilliant performance from 1.88m Dante Alinsunurin who scored 16 points, while Indonesia dismissed Tonga 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-14).

An inspirational Alinsunurin, in combination with Gino Macailan and Herminio Gallo Jr. provided the main artillery for the Philippines as the hosts dominated all three sets against their lesser fancied opponents to give them the best possible start to the tournament in front of 4,000 passionate fans.

"The team played as it should. There were some faults, but the important thing was that we were able to pull off the victory," said Philippine head coach Sergio Isada Jr. "We had expected Alinsunurin to deliver, he's a talented player. I hope he can sustain his game in our next matches."

Macau, playing for the first time in the World Championships, tried to rally behind Leong Ka Ho, who was their top scorer with eight points, but the Philippines were too strong.

"The Philippines played very well. We did our best today," said Macau head coach Leong Veng Tong.

In the second game of the day Indonesia, led by the dynamic duo of Rizqon Aris Achmad and Nyoman Rudi Tirtana, took just 55 minutes to beat Tonga in straight sets.

"We played a good match today," said Indonesia head coach Li Qiujiang, a native of China. "This is our first time in the World Championships, the competition is very high and we have to do our best to advance to the second round."

Tongan coach Inoke Fotu said his team was overwhelmed with the crowd. "Our players are not used to a big crowd (like today). We are learning a lot from this tournament. This will help gauge the strength of our team, which only had one month to prepare."

Day two of the five-day tournament on Thursday sees Macau take on Tonga at 17:00 (local time) followed by the first appearance of favourites Chinese Taipei, who take on the Philippines, which should be a fascinating encounter featuring two of the top teams.

The two highest-placed teams from this competition will advance to the second round, which will be played in June.