Alas Pilipinas Girls overcame tense moments but ultimately secured a Final Four berth in girls’ volleyball, defeating Chinese Taipei, 25-16, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18, in front of a raucous Sunday crowd at Isa Sports City.
After a shaky second set that lasted 30 minutes, the Philippines — led by Sam Cantada and Rhose Almendralejo — regained its composure and closed out the match in one hour and 47 minutes.
“Masaya po kasi nagawa po namin yung panalo po namin,” said Rain Navarro. “Pinagtrabahuhan po talaga namin kasi knockout na po yung laro po namin and kailangan po namin umangat po sa top four para makakuha po kami ng gold.”
Asked about their chances of reaching the gold medal match, Navarro expressed confidence as they prepare to face unbeaten Iran.
“Mare-rate ko po sa 10 out of 10, 10 po talaga, kasi kayang kaya po talaga namin to tsaka ilalaban po talaga namin to para po sa bayan.”
Meanwhile, in boxing, Leo Mhar Lobrido showed grit to secure a spot in the semifinals, while Princess Jay Ann Diaz and Jay-r Colonia claimed bronze medals.
Alas capped another strong day at the Asian Youth Games with multiple Final Four appearances.
Lobrido overcame tense moments in the closing seconds of the third round to defeat Binul Dulnada Dewasiri Narayana of Sri Lanka in the boys’ light flyweight quarterfinals at Exhibition World Bahrain. That assures him of at least a bronze medal.
(C) POC Pool
Diaz earned bronze in the clean and jerk of the girls’ 44-kg class. Following in the footsteps of Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, the 17-year-old lifted 78 kg to reach the podium.
India’s Bhoi Priteesmita took gold with a world youth record lift of 92 kg, while China’s Wu Jihong earned silver with 88 kg.
Jay-r Colonia also claimed bronze in the boys’ 56-kg clean and jerk with a 137-kg lift. Jiang Jinfu of China set a new Asian Youth record with 141 kg, and Al Ojaian M. Mohammed Nawaf of Saudi Arabia took silver with 138 kg.
Boxer Shairylle Pores bowed out in the girls’ 46-kg quarterfinals, losing 5-0 to Chen Fang-yu of Chinese Taipei.
In table tennis at the EWB, John Marin and Jannaj Alarcon swept Mongolia’s Turmunkh Dugersuren and Enkhjin Tuvshinbayar, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3, in the mixed doubles Round of 64.
Marin fought valiantly in the boys’ singles but fell to Man William of Hong Kong, 10-12, 9-11, 11-13. Emmanuel Paculba started strong but could not sustain momentum against Iran’s Mobin Amiri, losing 11-5, 8-11, 12-14, 9-11. Jacob Quindo also lost in group play to China’s Tang Yiren, 6-11, 4-11, 5-11.
Hong Kong’s Mak Ming overpowered Joanna Esguerra, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4, while Su Tsz Tung defeated Zuri Chua, 11-1, 11-3, 11-2. Singapore’s Loy Ming bested Jannaj Alarcon, 11-3, 11-5, 11-2.
In taekwondo, Matt Rejhan Lavestre had a strong start but was stopped in the boys’ -55kg quarterfinals by Yevgeniy Vassenkin, 2-0. Lavestre had earlier defeated Malaysia’s Muhammad Aidil Hakim Bin Mohd Azman, 2-0, and Bahrain’s Haji Yousuf, 2-0.
Chuck Aeron Alariao also exited in the quarterfinals of the -63kg class, 2-1, after beating UAE’s Marwan Mohamed, 2-1, in the Round of 16. Pinar Lotfizadeh Gabalou of Iran defeated the Philippines’ Ej Gaa, 2-0, in the girls’ -63kg quarterfinals.
At the Nasser bin Hamad Loop in Zallaq, Maria Louisse Crisselle Alejado finished the girls’ Individual Time Trial in 18 minutes and 53.40 seconds, 1 minute and 47 seconds behind gold medalist Kazakhstan’s Anel Tashbay, who clocked 17:06.05.
China’s Xing Aofei claimed silver, 19.03 seconds behind, while Hong Kong’s Law Ching Kiu took bronze, 34.36 seconds off the lead.
