Tiger Winx, Golden Tigresses lead Elite 8 cast in BVR: A Christmas Rally

KR Guzman and Krung Arbasto of Tiger Winx had a winning start, posting two victories in the Beach Volleyball Republic On Tour December Open 2018: A Christmas Rally Friday at the Sands SM By The Bay.

Hoping to follow up their title conquest in Dumaguete City last month, Guzman and Arbasto made quick work of Army’s Joshua Barrica and Jaidal Abdulmajid, 21-13, 21-10, and Cignal 1’s Karl Baysa and Josh Villanueva, 21-12, 21-16, to snatch the early lead in three-team Pool B.l

With their impressive start, Guzman and Arbasto are tipped to rule the 10th and final leg of the year.

Army, which earlier defeated Cignal 1, 17-21, 21-16, 15-8, fell at 1-1.

Meanwhile, tickets for this Sunday afternoon’s celebrity match between phenoms Alyssa Valdez and Kiefer Ravena, and beach volleyball poster girl Charo Soriano and fan favorite John Vic De Guzman are now available at SM Tickets.

Proceeds from the 4:00pm event will go to Mindanao State University-Marawi’s College of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation Academy, to help them fulfill their mission to grow the game of beach volleyball in the war-torn city in Mindanao.

Tournament format calls for four brackets of three teams, with the top two pairs in each group advancing to the knockout quarterfinals.

The winners will make it to the semifinals, where the survivors will clash for the title.

In other men’s contests, Rancel Varga and Efraem Dimaculangan of UST-Maynilad bested Philip Bagalay and Brian Tan of Fury-Ritemed, 21-9, 21-15; Edward Bonono and Fauzi Ismail in Cignal 2 turned back AJ Pareja and Greg Utupo of Luna, 21-13, 21-13; while Edward Camposano and James Buytrago of NU-Boysen prevailed over Mike Abria and Mike Shavrak of M&M, 21-12, 21-16.

The women’s quarterfinals cast was completed in the nightcap, with UST-Maynilad 2’s Babylove Barbon and Gen Eslapor; BanKo-Perlas 1’s Dzi Gervacio and Bea Tan; Creamline’s Fille Cayetano and Kyla Atienza; and PetroGazz’s Cienne Cruz and Jonah Sabete topping their respective groups.

NU-Boysen, UST-Maynilad 1, FEU-Malaya, and BanKo-Perlas 2 also made it to the top eight.

Aside from the continuation of the men’s preliminary matches that will start at 7:00am, the BVR Sandroots program, a beach volleyball workshop with the players handling the kids’ camp, will be held Saturday.