The Philippine women's team secured its second win in the 31st SEA Games beach volleyball after overwhelming Malaysia on Monday, May 16, at the Tuan Chau Beach, Quang Ninh.
Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons made short work of Farwizah Aina Ahmad Nizar and Maegan Beh Jia Yin, 21-11, 21-9, while Jovelyn Gonzaga and Dij Rodriguez handily beat Foo Sin Xi and Sin Sing Yee, 21-14, 21-9.
Next up for the Philippines is 2019 silver medalist Indonesia, composed of Dhita Juliana and Putu Utami, and Martha Rahawarin and Nur Atika Sari, at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
After bowing to defending champion Thailand on Sunday, Indonesia bounced back by beating Singapore, 2-0, to even its record to 1-1 and tie host Vietnam.
Like the Filipinas, bronze medalists in the 2019 edition, the Thais are also perfect in two contests after defeating the Vietnamese, 2-0.
Meanwhile, the Philippine men’s volleyball team was relegated to the classification match in indoor volleyball after suffering a 25-20, 29-27, 25-22 defeat at the hands of Thailand at the Quang Ninh Gymnasium.
The valiant Filipino spikers threw everything they got with Bryan Bagunas and Marc Espejo leading the attack but they just couldn’t get the much-needed push to close out the sets against the steady play from the Thais.
Thailand pulled away late in the opening set, breaking an 18-all deadlock with a swift four straight points to take a commanding lead and eventually the first set.
The Filipinos tried to regain foothold in the second set as it engaged the Thais in a back-and-forth affair that saw the latter saving four set points.
However, two crucial errors late from the Philippine team doomed its chances to tie the game, allowing Thailand to easily cruise to the dominant straight-set win.