Philippine women’s beach volleyball team. –PNVF
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine women’s beach volleyball team kissed its medal hopes goodbye as Bernadeth Pons and Dij Rogriguez absorbed a heartbreaking 24-22, 13-21, 13-15 loss to defending champion Thailand in their golden match in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on Saturday at Otres Beach in Preah Sihanouk, Cambodia.
Pons and Rodriguez pushed to Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat their limits as they crawled back from a 7-10 deficit in the third set and tied the game at 12-all before
Naraphornrapat and Rodriguez exchanged attacks to keep the set tied at 13-all. However, Naraphornrapat nailed an off-the-block hit and the game-winning ace to stay unbeaten in two games in Pool A and tied Vietnam (2-0) to complete the semifinals cast from their group.
The women’s national team, which won back-to-back bronze medals in the past two SEA Games, will miss the semifinals for the first time as it bombed out of medal contention with a 0-2 record, following a series loss to Vietnam on Friday.
Pons and Rodriguez stunned the pair of Kongphopsarutawadee and Naraphornrapat in the first game, 22-20, 21-18, but the team of Jovelyn Gonzaga and Sisi Rondina couldn’t complete a series win as it yielded to Tanarattha Udomchavee and Varapatsorn Radarong, 14-21, 19-21.
The Philippines will lick its wounds from shattered medal hopes as it wraps up its group campaign against the fellow winless team Malaysia.
Philippine men’s beach volleyball team. –PNVF
MEN’S TEAM STILL KICKING
Meanwhile, the men’s national beach volleyball team absorbed its first defeat in Group A after Jaron Requinton and Jude Garcia fell to Vietnam’s Lam Toi Nguyen and Van Nha Nguyen in the golden match, 16-21, 21-16, 10-15.
Requinton and Ranran Abdilla dropped the first match to Lam Toi Nguyen and Quang Vu Tran, 18-21, 22-20, 12-15, before the Philippines’ Garcia and James Buytrago forced a decider with a 21-16, 20-22, 15-13 victory over Vietnamese second squad Van Nha Nguyen and Van Thanh Thuyen Nguyen.
The national team coaches decided to play Requinton and Garcia in the decider only to absorb their first loss in three matches, sliding to a 2-1 record, as Vietnam swept all four matches in Pool A.
The Philippine men’s team, who seeks to surpass its two consecutive bronze medals in the past two SEA Games, needs to beat winless Laos (0-3) on Sunday to enter the semifinal round.