Alas Pilipinas’ Sofiah Pagara and Khy Progella made a strong statement in their 20th Asian Games debut, dominating Maldives on Monday.
Pagara and Progella kept the Philippine women’s beach volleyball campaign rolling with a commanding 21-6, 21-11 sweep of Anal Fatimath and Areesha Aminath at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court in Japan.
With the victory, the Filipinas share the top spot in Pool G with Hong Kong, which also improved to a 1-0 record after defeating Mongolia later in the day.
Pagara and Progella’s strong start mirrored the opening-day showing of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons, who swept Bangladesh, 21-6, 21-6, on Sunday to seize the early lead in Pool E.
The Busan Futures champions will next face Mongolia on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ronniel Rosales and James Buytrago also opened their campaign on a winning note, dispatching Mongolia’s Amar Batmunkh and Shijir-erdene Bat-Enkh, 21-11, 21-15, in Pool C of the men’s tournament.
In Pool A, Ranran Abdilla and Lerry Francisco suffered a deflating 7-21, 10-21 loss to Qatar’s Cherif Samba and Ahmed Janko.
Rosales and Buytrago will look to continue their winning ways against Vietnam on Wednesday, while Abdilla and Francisco will try to bounce back against Oman on Thursday.
