Despite early exit, FIVB Manila Open a learning experience for Soriano, Tan

Charo Soriano and Bea Tan in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Charo Soriano and Bea Tan fizzled out in the group stages after losing to Canada’s Megan Nagy and Caleigh Cruickshank 21-12, 21-15, in the FIVB World Tour Manila Open Friday at SM Sands by the Bay.

Tan and Soriano failed to enter the Round of 12 after accumulating two losses in Pool B where they settled at the final spot after the second day of competition.

Despite the disappointing result, the two former Ateneo Lady Eagles were thankful for the opportunity in representing the Philippines in its first foray in international  beach volleyball.

“We’ve learned so much, Charo and I, as a tandem,” said Tan. “Being able to play against these tough teams not just in Asia, but globally, it gives us more hope and also we’re very excited we were able to play here and we were able to play here and hopefully we’re able to play more in the future not just in this tournament, but more to come.”

Tan and Soriano, who are founders of the Beach Volleyball Republic which organized the event,l lost to Japan’s Takemi Nishibori and Ayumi Kusano 21-10, 21-9, in their first game on Friday.

“It widened our perspective in terms of our level of play and in terms of what we really expected to see and to use to become better,” said Soriano. “So now we know a lot of things on what we can improve on. We’ve seen how the Europeans play, how the rest of the Asian countries play, and how the Americans play.”

“It’s good for the Filipino beach volleyball community to really learn from this,” added Soriano.