2006 Women’s World Championship - Guatemala
Mexico confident ahead of first round tournament (FIVB)
05/11/2005
Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 11, 2005 - The 2006 Women’s World Championship first round tournament (Norceca Pool C) starts today in Guatemala City with Mexico playing Nicaragua and Guatemala taking on Honduras and it is Mexico, the top ranked team in the tournament at 28 in the world, who are expecting nothing less than a tournament win.

Mexican captain Bibi Candelas stated that her team is “well prepared for a good result in this tournament, with the goal of reaching the next round.

“The girls know the teams and the level they are at, despite the fact that, with the exception of Guatemala, we have not faced them before. Guatemala continues to improve every year and we hope they do a good job on their own soil,” said the 21-year-old.

Mexico arrived in Guatemala with great enthusiasm and are confident of putting on a great display.

“We don’t want to underestimate our rivals but I think we will be in the running for one berth in the next phase,” she added.

The competition format of the event will be a round-robin single round with the top two teams advancing to the next phase – round two - in two sites: Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

The team who finishes first here will advance to the round in Puerto Rico to meet USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and the winner of the Barbados first round tournament, while the team who finish second will travel to the Dominican Republic to face Cuba, Costa Rica, Jamaica and the hosts.

Tonight’s matches will see the Mexico v Nicaragua match starting at 18:00 (local time), followed by Guatemala taking on Honduras at 20:00 (local time).
(Released by FIVB)