Bea Tan and Dij Rodriguez cruised to a 21-7, 21-15 win over Malaysia’s Tan Hsi Yan and Tasha Mae, giving the Philippines two teams in the Round of 12 Saturday in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open presented by Globe at the White House Beach Station 1 in Boracay.
Leaving behind a heartbreaking 21-17, 13-21, 14-16 loss to Singapore’s Eliza Chong and Lau Ee Shan in last Friday’s opener, Tan and Rodriguez were in the zone on both ends of the sand court to send the Malaysians packing, while keeping the three-time Beach Volleyball Republic On Tour champions in the competition.
But the fancied Filipina pair of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons failed to gain outright passage to the quarterfinals after losing to Japan’s Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba, 16-21, 19-21.
Inspired by the early morning cheering crowd that packed the venue, Rondina and Pons went toe-to-toe with world No. 86 Ishitsubo and Shiba in both sets, but the Japanese were simply too classy to remain undefeated in two matches.
Rondina and Pons opened their campaign with a 21-14, 21-8 conference of Japan’s Shinako Tanaka and Miyuki Matsumura Friday.
Jackie Estoquia and DM Demontaño bowed out of contention, but not without putting up a valiant stand against Russia’s Ekaterina Filina and Ekaterina Zazhigina, 14-21, 21-19, 13-15.
That leaves the pairs of Rondina and Pons, and Tan and Rodriguez fighting for quarterfinals slots Saturday afternoon. Their opponents will be determined after the 1 p.m. drawing of lots.
