Team Philippines continued to make waves on the sands as the women’s sprint team bagged a silver medal in beach athletics, while both Alas Pilipinas beach volleyball squads advanced to the quarterfinals, with the country maintaining its hold on third place overall on Sunday in the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.
Jessica Rose Laurance added a silver medal to her bronze on Saturday after teaming up with Shane Ponce, Lianne Pama, and Olympian Kristina Knott. The quartet finished second in the 4×60-meter relay at Phoenix Island.
As of press time on Sunday, the official medal tally showed the Philippines in third place with three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals, trailing second-running Thailand (4-5-3) and host China, which leads the standings with 13 gold, 11 silver, and four bronze.
The Pinoy delegation’s campaign in the resort city is supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee under President Bambol Tolentino and the Philippine Sports Commission, headed by chairman Pato Gregorio.
“It’s so different. There’s no baton. The exchange zone is three meters versus 30 meters. So, I think that was our only enemy in the race was the zone,” Knott said.
For Laurance, it was another taste of sweet success.
“It feels great. Honestly, I came here not knowing what to expect. I really just wanted to have fun and see what I could do on sand,” Laurance said. “I’ve never run on sand and I really beat my expectations. So, I’m really happy.”
(C) POC-PSC Media Group
Over at the Tianya Haijiao Venue Cluster, Sunny Villapando and Gry Matibag clobbered Sri Lanka’s Shehani Ashanga Wattelage and Ktl Alawaththage, 21-15, 21-13, in their Round of 16 matchup.
“First of all, the start was a little bit shaky, even towards the end. But I think what persists is the willingness for us to win this game and also to do good movements,” Matibag said. “It was just a bonus because we were focusing on our good movements and how we can improve game by game.”
“I think everything starts with a pass, right? So, our ball control, our good pass set is really what I was focused on in the front half of that set because when we pass in front, and we set in front, we have good vision and we can put the ball wherever we want,” Villapando added.
The Villapando-Matibag pair will next face Japan’s Matsumoto Ren and Matsumoto Non on Monday in the Last Eight at the same venue. Meanwhile, Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara will take on Thailand in another quarterfinal clash.
(C) POC-PSC Media Group
Progella and Pagara earlier downed Kazakhstan’s Yekaterina Ryukhova and Kristina Karimova, 21-11, 21-14, in the Round of 16.
The Philippine dragon boat team closed its campaign in fifth place in the men’s 800-meter race at the Sanya River.
The Filipinos clocked 1:41.14 in the semifinals, good for third place, which sent them to the minor finals.
In the classification race, the Philippine paddlers defeated Macao, China, with a time of 1:40.88.
Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 men are eyeing a sweep of Pool A play when they face Iran at 11:30 AM, Monday at the Sanya Sport Centre Gymnasium.
The same goal is on the line for the Pinay 3×3 women’s team, which aims for a perfect 3-0 record in Pool C against Kyrgyzstan at 12:15 PM at the same venue.
