Philippine men’s beach volleyball team. –PNVF PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine men’s beach volleyball team advanced to the semifinals round of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games after sweeping the winless Laos on Sunday at Otres Beach in Preah Sihanouk, Cambodia.
Licking the wounds of their first loss to Vietnam on Saturday, the quartet of Alnakran Abdilla, Jaron Requinton, James Buytrago, and Jude Garcia vented their ire on lowly Laos to finish with a 3-1 record in Pool A.
Abdilla and Requinton won the first match over Khampene Sanyalack and Lid Saykwhamoun, 21-9, 21-8, while Buytrago and Garcia dealt the finishing blow in match two, 21-11, 21-13, over Bounmixay Phommachan and Chansabab Chanthongdeng.
The win also sealed the Philippines’ ticket in the semifinals as it tries to surpass its previous past two bronze medal finishes in the SEA Games.
Philippine women’s beach volleyball team. –PNVF
The also-ran women’s beach volleyball team ended its SEA Games stint on a high note after sweeping Malaysia, 2-0, in Pool B.
The team of Bernadeth Pons and Dij Rodriguez powered the Philippines to a 21-19, 21-9 win over Maegan Beh Jia Yin and Sin Sing Yee.
The duo of Sisi Rondina and Jovelyn Gonzaga then doubled down and took a 21-9, 21-11 victory over Nur Auni Maisarah Shamsulrizal and Zuliza Pilihan to end their campaign with a 1-2 card.
The Filipina Spikers missed the semis for the first time after two consecutive bronze medals.