MANILA – Volleyball head coach Roger Gorayeb denied reports of a rift with assistant Anusorn ‘Tai’ Bundit, mentioning that they were already even laying out plans for an upcoming international tournament.
Both Gorayeb and Bundit were tagged by the national volleyball federation for the VTV Invitational Volleyball Cup in Vietnam, where the Philippines will be delegating its women’s volleyball team members Rhea Dimaculangan, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Abi Marano, Maika Ortiz, and Dindin Santiago-Manabat.
“Wala kaming problema ni Tai. Sa totoo lang may mga plano na nga kami ni Tai sa team (We have no problem. In fact, we already have plans for the team),” Gorayeb said.
Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc. (LVPI) president Joey Romasanta reportedly announced that Bundit replaced Gorayeb as head coach. But LVPI secretary general Ricky Palou, however, clarified that there was no such announcement made.
“I’ve spoken to coach Roger Gorayeb. The coach for this Vietnam tilt is still going to be Roger,” Palou said. “We are maintaining the same coaching staff that we have in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. We want to keep Roger and Tai together so there will be continuity.”
But even Gorayeb and Bundit’s partnership in the recently concluded SEA Games was rumored to have had stirred a conflict between the two coaches. Gorayeb again denied such reports.
Meanwhile, Bundit, who is currently in Thailand, was not aware of the speculations circulating about him in the Philippines.
“I saw Tai in Thailand and I congratulated him, but it seems that he’s not aware of it,” a Spin.ph source said in its report.