Filipino volleybelles Cherry Ann Rondina (front) and Bernadeth Pons (behind) hold their ground against Thailand’s Varapatsorin Radarong and Khanttha Hongpak at the beach volleyball match in Subic Tennis Court in Subic, Zambales. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Cherry “Sisi’’ Rondina has acknowledged that her partnership with Bernadeth Pons needed more than just the motivation of the home crowd to ruin the bid of title favorite Thailand.
“They don’t seem to get distracted and play flawless even in intense situations,’’ said Rondina in Filipino after they dropped a 26-24, 25-15 decision in the preliminary match against the Thais in women’s beach volleyball at the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
Immediately after that Rondina-Pons pratfall to Varapatsorn Radarong and Khanittha Hongpak, the Filipino tandem Dzi Gervacio and Dij Rodriguez suffered the same fate from another Thai pair—Rumpaipruet Numwong and Tanarattha Udomchavee.
Rodriguez and Gervacio were out for some measure of revenge at the start with high hopes of dragging the Thais in a golden encounter.
Numwong and Udomchavee, however, had everything under control that translated to a 21-16, 21-14 triumph as soon as the rains kicked in on the cool sands of the Subic Tennis Court.
“Still, I feel blessed knowing that we can match up with them,’’ said Rondina, a four-time UAAP women’s beach volleyball MVP and champion with the University of Santo Tomas.
While Thailand keeps a spotless record of 4-0, the second defeat of the Filipinos in four games would relegate them to a fighting chance for the bronze medal.
The host country should beat the Singaporeans in straight sets on Friday to pocket the bronze.
“We are already talking about a medal here. We will not allow ourselves to get beaten by Singapore,’’ said Rondina.