PH men’s beach volleyball team. PNVF PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine men’s beach volleyball team was relegated to the battle for third place after getting swept by defending champion Indonesia in two games in the semifinal round at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on Monday at Otres Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Ranran Abdilla and Jaron Requinton yielded to Indonesia’s Danangsyah Yudistira Pribadi and Gilang Ramadhan, 17-21, 24-26, in the first match.
James Buytrago and Jude Garcia failed to force a golden match as they fell to Bintang Akbar and Muhammad Ashfiya, 21-19, 21-16.
The Nationals will play their third straight bronze medal game against Vietnam, which got swept by Thailand in the other semis match.
Indonesia eyes a “three-peat” against Thailand in their third consecutive gold medal clash.
The Philippines hopes to win its third straight bronze medal in men’s beach volleyball when it faces Vietnam in its second consecutive battle for third.
The Vietnamese handed the Filipino Spikers’ only loss in Pool A out of four matches.
After splitting the first two games of their Pool A clash, Requinton and Garcia fell to Vietnam’s Lam Toi Nguyen and Van Nha Nguyen in the golden match, 16-21, 21-16, 10-15.
The women’s team composed of Sisi Rondina and partner Jovelyn Gonzaga as well as Bernadeth Pons and Dij Rodriguez was eliminated in Pool B after winning only one of their three matches.