The Philippine Men’s Beach Volleyball Team bowed to Vietnam in a game that reached the golden round, suffering its first loss in Pool A of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games Beach Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at Otres Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Ran Abdilla and Jaron Requinton fell to Lam Toi Nguyen and Quang Vu Tran in three sets, 18-21, 22-20, 12-15, but Jude Garcia and James Buytrago managed keep the Philippines in the series through a 21-16, 20-22, 15-13 win against Van Nha Nguyen and Van Tranh Thuyen Nguyen.
In the golden match, Requinton and Garcia teamed up but succumbed to Lam Toi Nguyen and Van Nha Nguyen, 21-16, 16-21, 15-10.
Vietnam completed a four-game sweep of the pool to advance to the crossover semifinals. They will face the second seed of Pool B which will either be Indonesia, Thailand, or Singapore.
Meanwhile, the Philippines, who defeaed Cambodia and Timor Leste earlier, will face Laos (0-3) on Sunday in a match where it can seal the second semis slot.
On the other hand, the women’s team consisting of Sisi Rondina, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Bernadeth Pons, and Dij Rodriguez bowed out of contention after being dealt their second loss in Pool B by Thailand.
Pons and Rodriguez swept Taravadee Naraphornrapat and Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, 22-20, 21-18 to give the Filipinas a 1-0 lead.
However, Sisi Rondina and Jovelyn Gonzaga lost to Tanarattha Udomchavee and Varapatsorn Radarong via sweep as well, 14-21, 19-21 which locked the scores at 1-all.
Pons and Rodriguez hit the sands once more but failed to replicate their feat as they fell prey to Naraphornrapat and Kongphopsarutawadee 24-22, 13-21, 13-15 in the golden match, falling to last place.
The Philippines also lost to Vietnam, 2-1, last Friday.
Thailand clinched its semis ticket while the other slot will be tussled by Vietnam (1-0) and Malaysia (0-1).
The Filipino quartet can play spoilers on Sunday when they take on Malaysia in their campaign finale.
