PH tossers steal a set from China

It was always going to be tough proposition, but the Philippines made sure China took notice before bowing out of contention in the Asian Women’s Under-23 Championship.

The Filipinos put up a spirited, inspired stand that ultimately fell short against the defending world champion Chinese, who settled for a 23-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17 win Thursday night in the quarterfinals at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

A stirring performance in the first set by the Filipinos stunned the Chinese.

Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively, but breaking through the towering Chinese defense at the net in the last three sets proved too tough a task for the Filipinos, who again struggled with 30 errors.

Chinese skipper Liu Yanhan, who topscored with 21 points, was all praises to the PH side that was formed for this tournament just three weeks ago.

“I think the Philippines gave a good performance,” said Liu, one of three Asian Games veterans in the Chinese team. “We didn’t prepare enough for them. They play with a lot of passion and emotion.”

The Chinese quickly found out they were in for a battle early on as the Filipinos found all sorts of gaps on their floor defense.

“They were surprised we played that well in the first set,” said coach Roger Gorayeb. “We were looking for them to give us a chance. We took that chance.”

The Chinese eventually figured out the hosts’ attacking play while Liu started to impose her will at the net.

“It felt like we were dodging bullets,” said Valdez of the Chinese attacks.

The victory sent the Chinese to a semifinal duel with South Korea, which overcame Chinese-Taipei, 16-25, 35-17, 23-25, 25-14, 15-10.

The Filipinos play the Taiwanese at the start of classification phase for fifth to eighth spots at 12 noon today.

Japan also gained the semifinals with a 25-17, 25-17, 25-14 win over Iran.