Ang Serey Piseth and Leang Meng applaud the presence of the four European players who will join Visakha, at a press conference on April 22. CVF
Visakha Volleyball Club has brought in three professional French players and a German to defend their championship at the Win+Streak Volleyball Invitational (WSVI) Tournament. The four Europeans will join ten local players for the competition, set to take place from April 30 to May 4, in Taichung, Taiwan.
The foreign players include Frenchmen Francois Rebeyrol and Titouan Halle, both outside hitters, and Thomas Gill, a setter. The German player, Sebastian Rosler, plays as a middle blocker. All four players were officially introduced during a press conference on Tuesday.
Aing Serey Piseth, club vice-president and secretary-general of the Cambodian Volleyball Federation, confirmed that the four players are all professionals, who mostly play in France and Germany’s top leagues.
He noted that the professional athletes maintain high standards in discipline, training and diet, and urged the local team members to learn from the foreign players’ good habits, to help develop themselves into professionals.
“This is a rare opportunity. It’s not easy for our players to train alongside professionals!” he said.
“If Visakha’s management had not brought in these four pros, we might never get a chance in our lifetime to work with players from the French and German leagues. That’s why we must learn as much as possible from them to develop our own capabilities,” he added.
The 14 Visakha players who will compete in the WSVI Volleyball Tournament 2025 in Taiwan and their coach, pose for a photo with the volleyball federation secretary-general and main sponsor. CVF
Regarding the WSVI Tournament, Serey Piseth shared that each of the participating teams is strong and the level of competition will be even higher than last year. Visakha is in Pool A with Hyundai Capital Skywalkers (South Korea), MBSA Pelicans (Malaysia) and Taichung Bank (Taiwan).
Pool B includes Win+Streak (Taiwan), Jakarta Garuda (Indonesia), Nakhon Ratchasima (Thailand) and Armed Forces (South Korea). The group stage will run from April 30 to May 2, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the semi-finals on May 3, ahead of the May 4 final.
Despite the tough competition, the addition of the four foreign players gives Visakha a strong advantage in defending the title.
“We believe that we are close to becoming a team of professionals capable of winning the title again in Taiwan,” noted Serey Piseth.
“All 14 of our players have equal talent. If we win the championship, it will be a collective effort, because if our local players don’t perform well, the foreign players alone can’t secure victory. It will take teamwork, including the contribution of our coaching staff, to successfully defend the title in Taiwan,” he added.
Meanwhile, Leang Meng, co-founder and CEO of Khmer Beverages, the team’s main sponsor for the campaign, expressed optimism that Visakha would reclaim the title. He also said he is preparing a celebratory party and special gifts for the team’s victorious return to Cambodia.
“The federation clearly sees that the players selected for this competition are capable of defending the title. As a top executive at Khmer Beverages, I’ve worked hard to fully support this effort to strengthen our volleyball, so that Cambodia’s team gains recognition and respect both regionally and globally,” he explained.
