The Philippine men’s national beach volleyball team suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Indonesia, dropping them to the bronze medal match in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at Otres Beach in Cambodia.
Ran Abdilla and James Buytrago put up a strong fight but ultimately fell short against Danangsyah Yudistira Pribadi and Gilang Ramadhan, losing with a score of 17-21, 24-26, which gave the Filipinos a 0-1 deficit in the series.
Bintang Akbar and Muhammad Ashfiya sealed the victory for Indonesia by sweeping Jude Garcia and Jaron Requinton with a score of 21-19, 21-16. Indonesia will now face Thailand in the gold medal match.
The Philippine team will compete against Vietnam at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, as they aim to secure a bronze medal in the biennial meet. In their previous encounter during the group stage, the Philippines lost to Vietnam in three matches.
On the other hand, the women’s team concluded their group stage campaign on a positive note by defeating Malaysia 2-0 in Pool B last Monday.
Bernadeth Pons and Dij Rodriguez dominated Maegan Beh Jia Yin and Sin Sing Yee with a score of 21-19, 21-9, while Sisi Rondina and Jovelyn Gonzaga swiftly defeated Nur Auni Maisarah Shamsulrizal and Zuliza Pilihan with a score of 21-9, 21-11.
Although they finished the group stage with a 1-2 record, the women’s team missed out on a podium finish after two consecutive bronze medal finishes.
