Jay Rack dela Noche and Alexander Iraya crumbled late against powerhouse Thailand-3, to exit the 4th Asian U21 Championships with a quarterfinal experience in their bag.
The Philippine Boys’ Beach Volleyball squad yielded to Thailand’s Narakorn Chumaphai and Nopphawit Puttharong in straight sets, 18-21, 10-21, in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand on Wednesday afternoon.
After going down by six in the early goings of the second frame, the Philippines cut it to just three, 8-11.
Then the Thais called timeout, which also served as a wake-up call.
Thailand came out scorching off the break. They went on a 10-2 blast topped by a crosscourt hit by Puttharong to ice their victory.
In the first set, the Filipinos were so close to bagging the set, down by just one, 17-18. But two errors and a drop shot by Chumaphai gave the Thais the early advantage.
Chumaphai led Thailand with 17 points, while Puttharong was just behind him with 14.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Filipino standouts only combined for 20 markers, with Iraya having 13.
It was still a memorable trip for the Philippines, though. They had a stunning upset of second-seed Australia earlier, 15-21, 21-14, 15-10, to enter the quarterfinals.
