The Philippine men’s national beach volleyball team secured its second consecutive victory, while the women’s squad opened their campaign with a narrow loss in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games held at Otres Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
The men’s team improved to a 2-0 record, while the women’s squad fell to 0-1.
After defeating Timor Leste the previous day, the Filipino men clinched a close 2-1 win against host Cambodia, while the Filipinas suffered a 1-2 defeat against Vietnam later in the day.
Ran Abdilla and Jaron Requinton lost the opening match 19-21, 21-14, 14-16 to Chuk Sophea and Thy Menghuong, giving Cambodia a 1-0 lead in the series.
Jude Garcia and James Buytrago came to the rescue, rallying for a come-from-behind 19-21, 21-18, 15-12 victory over Oem Narit and Pich Sophon to even the score at 1-all.
Once again, Garcia and Buytrago played a crucial role in the golden match, securing a hard-fought 23-21, 21-17 win against Narit and Menghuong, completing the overall victory.
Bernadette Pons and Dij Rodriguez took care of business against Le Thi Tuong Vy Nguyen and Thi My Nga Dinh, contributing to the Filipinas’ 21-17, 18-21, 16-14 win over Vietnam to start the series.
However, Sisi Rondina and Jovelyn Gonzaga fell short against Ngoc Lan Chau and Thi Tranh Tram Nguyen in a three-set match, losing 18-21, 21-13, 15-17, which leveled the scores at 1-all.
Rondina and Gonzaga once again couldn’t seal the deal, as they lost the final match 15-21, 22-24 against Chau and Nguyen.
The men’s team will face Vietnam at 10:40 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, while the women’s squad will take on Thailand later that day at 2:50 p.m.
