Despite their strong desire to enter the final round, Rebisco-Philippines fell prey to the Royal Thai Army in four sets, 19-25, 21-25, 25-19, 19-25, in the semifinals of the 2019 Thailand Open Sealect Tuna Championships at the Wee Sommay Gymansium in Sisaket, Monday.
Trailing for almost the whole second set, Rebisco managed to reach striking distance as Marck Espejo displayed his defensive prowess. The multi-time Spikers’ Turf MVP blocked two consecutive attacks from Army which developed into a 3-1 spurt, trimming the deficit to two, 19-21.
Bryan Bagunas tried to will his team back scoring off a kill, 21-23. But two costly errors from Ranran Abdilla in the previous possessions proved costly for the Nationals as Chakkit Chandahuadong finished the set with two emphatic kills.
Playing with a sense of urgency, the Nationals went on an outburst and entered the second technical time out of the third frame with a 16-11 advantage. They never lost hold of the lead from there with Bagunas and Abdilla delivering the set-clinching kills.
The Thais proved to be too much as they led by as much as six points in the fourth set and never gave the Filipinos a chance to close in.
Rebisco will face the loser of the match between the Royal Thai Air Force and the Thai-Denmark Saraburi in the battle for third place on July 9 at 10:00 AM.
