Cebu City Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros, tournament commissioner Blake Diao and the representatives of the 14 competing teams pose for a photo during the launching of the Sinulog Cup 2025 Men’s Open Volleyball Tournament. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The inaugural Sinulog Cup 2025 Men’s Open Volleyball Tournament will blast off on Thursday, January 16, at the Cebu City Sports Institute in Barangay Sawang Calero.
Fourteen teams, composed of commercial and school-based squads, will compete for the championship and a share of the over ₱180,000 in cash prizes.
The tournament, organized by the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) headed by Cebu City Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros, boasts participation from players in the UAAP, NCAA, Mindanao, and Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI).
READ:
Sinulog Cup 2025: A potential shift from basketball to volleyball
Volleyball Friends top Sinulog League Season 2
Alas Pilipinas podium finish ushers in new era for PH volleyball
During the press conference on Wednesday at Paseo Arcenas, Hontiveros expressed his excitement for the three-day Sinulog volleyball tournament, emphasizing its role in promoting Cebu City as a hub for sports tourism.
“Every Sinulog Festival, we host two sports events to showcase Cebu City through sports. This year, we decided to add an open volleyball tournament due to the growing popularity of the sport,” said Hontiveros.
Joining him during the presser was tournament commissioner Blake Diao and other officials who are overseeing the event.
He noted that the decision to put up a Sinulog volleyball tournament was driven by the success of a similar event held in August dubbed as the DH25 Men’s Open Volleyball Tournament.
“We saw a huge turnout of participants last August. When asked if this could be included in Sinulog, we decided to push through with it. We’re excited to welcome players from outside Cebu City and expect this to be a grand event,” Hontiveros shared.
For his part, Diao detailed the format and schedule, revealing that the action begins at 7 a.m. tomorrow.
A total of 46 matches will be played in the Sinulog volleyball tournament, averaging 15 games per day, culminating in the championship game.
The 14 teams are divided into two brackets, with the top two from each bracket advancing to the crossover semifinals.
The champion team of the tournament will take home P100,000, P50,000 for the first runners-up, P20,000 for the second runners-up, and P10,000 for the third runners-up.
“What makes this tournament exciting is there are many players from Manila who played for the UAAP and NCAA that will compete in different teams. Some of these players are also from Mindanao who are seasoned commercial players that will be arriving here in Cebu today coming from another tournament,” said Diao.
“Half of these teams are school-based and half of them are club-based teams. So expect elite competition but of course in a level-playing field.”
The competing teams in the Sinulog volleyball tournament are University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers and Baby Panthers, University of Bohol (UB), Atty. Dico, DPWH RO VII, DH25 Spikers, Amigos, Flying Lemurs, 8×8, Volleyball Assassins, Revels, Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats, Lowkey Volleyball, and CVA.