INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--The Philippine beach volleyball team, fighting to make it to the Beijing Olympics, split its last two matches in the main draw--winning over world 17th ranked Austria and losing to 12th ranked Germany--to finish 13th Friday in the Osaka Open, one of the few legs left in the 2008 World Tour.

The pair of Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua started the day with a stunning 25-23, 17-21, 15-13 upset of Doris Schwaiger and Stefanie Schwaiger.

But in the afternoon, they ran into Germans Helke Claasen and Antje Roder and lost, 21-14, 21-15.

Still, it was the best finish for the RP belles in the World Tour and assured them of 180 points in the provisional Olympic rankings that only accommodate the top 24 pairs in the world. They also pocketed $3,900.

The Fil-Ams, bronze medalists in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games and 2006 Busan Asian Games, had the tough end of the draw as they faced world's third-ranked China in the first round.

Jia Tian and Jie Wang, seeded first in the tourney, dealt Pascua and Ilustre a 21-18, 21-15 beating Thursday morning that put them in the path of yet another tough team from Finland.

But the RP belles stood their ground against Erika Nystrom and Emilia Nystrom--ranked 23 in the Olympic ranking--to prevail, 21-19, 24-22.

Team manager Tony Boy Liao said the duo will see action in Spain next month in a hope to barge into the Olympic main draw.

They are currently 37th in the world, but that is still not counting their last two finishes.