DINISPATSA nina Ran Abdilla at James Buytrago sina Yoshi Hasegawa at Dylan Kurokawa ng Japan, 22-24, 24-22, 15-9, sa Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championship nitong Huwebes sa Nuvali Sand Courts sa City of Santa Rosa.
Nalusutan ang nakadidismayang simula, nag-init sina Abdilla at Buytrago upang maipuwersa ang decider na ganap nilang nakontrol.
“We will not simply break down and give up,” wika ni Buytrago. “It was a very difficult and frustrating first set, but we just had to continue fighting. We needed this win badly.”
Bumawi ang Alas Pilipinas top men’s pair mula sa straight sets loss kina Alani Nicklin at Thomas Hartles ng New Zealand para sa 1-1 record bago ang crucial match sa pool play laban kina Thailand’s Netitorn Muneekul at Wachirawit Muadpha.
“We were really tired, but the mindset is to win,” ani Abadilla.
“There is nothing better than the feeling of winning, but we’re not done here yet, lots of volleyball left to play.”
Samantala, yumuko sina Rancel Varga at Lerry Franciso kina Dunwinit Kaewsai at Banlue Nakprakong, 14-21, 19-21.
Tila maipupuwersa ng bagong partners ang decider nang kunin. nila ang five-point lead sa second set, 15-10, subalit kumulapso at nalasap ang isa pang straight-sets loss.
Natakasan naman ng top-rated pair nina Mark Nicolaidis at Izac Carracher ng Australia sina Japan’s Nassim Malki and Kosuke Fukushima, 21-16, 16-21, 15-6, para sa kanilang ikalawang sunod na panalo sa torneo na idinadaos sa ilalim ng pangangasiwa ng PNVF at AVC, na kapwa pinamumunuan ni Ramon “Tats” Suzara.
Susunod na makakaharap nina Nicolaidis at Izac Carracher sina AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open champion Abbas Pourasgari at Alireza Aghajanighasab ng Iran, na namayani kina China’s Song Jinyang at Zhang Tai, 17-21, 21-15, 15-8.
Pinataob nina Australia’s Thomas Hodges at Zachery Schubert sina Thailand’s Surin Jongklang at Kittituch Khomkham, 21-17, 21-19, habang ginapi nina Japan’s Takumi Takahashi at Jumpei Ikeda sina Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Yakolev at Sergey Bogatu, 25-23, 16-21, 16-14.
