RP spikers enter ‘Sweet 16’ of Asian Beach Games

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ men’s and women’s volleyball teams advanced to the round-of-16 even though the country failed to pick up any medal in surfing and pencak silat in the 1st Asian Beach Games Wednesday in Bali, Indonesia. Rhovyl Verayo and Jonrey Sasing defeated Sri Lanka’s Naween Sampath Peiris Warnakuiasooriya and Wasantha Rathnapala Bombuwal Dewage, 21-15, 21-17, in the men’s round-of-32 at the Inna Grand Bali Hotel in Sanur. “Maganda ang depensa namin (We played good defense)," said the 29-year-old Verayo of the Philippine Air Force who only had two weeks to practice with the Cebu-based Sasing for this tournament. Verayo and Sasing will next face Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) champions Andy Ardiyansah and Koko Prasetyano Darkuncoro of Indonesia, who scored a 21-11, 21-19 victory over Thailand’s Sittichai Sangkachot and Teerapat Pollueang. “Mabigat ang kalaban pero laban lang (We’re up against a tough opponent but we will still give our best)," said the 29-year-old Verayo, who debuted in the 2005 Manila SEAG. He and partner Parley Tupaz, absorbed a 19-21, 19-21 loss to the formidable Indonesian pair during the 2007 SEAG in Thailand. In the women’s division, Philippines-1 Michelle Carolino and Suzanne Roces downed Tsai Yin Feng and Wu Shu Fen, 21-15, 21-18, to enter the next round and will next face Kazakhstan’s Alexandra Turicusheva and Tatyana Maskova. Nerissa Bautista and Jusabelle Brillo of RP-2 also moved to the next round via a 21-11, 21-7 win against Aleya Khatun and Farhana Akther of Bangladesh. Bautista and Brillo will next meet Thailand’s Usa Tenpaksee and Jarunee Sannok. The Kazakh pair of Turicusheva and Maskova and the Thai duo of Tenpaksee-Sannok had byes. At the Kuta beach, Carlito Nogalo and Dionesio Espejon posted an unforgettable stint in the aerial surfing competition after finishing last in the semifinal round. Nogalo, who won a bronze in the shortboard, scored only 1.75 points behind Indonesian Adi Putra Made (14.55) and Japanese Yuichi Kurogi (3.00) in the semifinals while Espejon failed to earn a point in the semifinal where Indonesian Dede Suryana tallied 17.5 points and Japanese Shuhei posted 3.25 points. In pencak silat competitions at Tanjung Benoa beach, Analy Pinonggan ranked sixth among seven entries in the women’s tunggal (artistic) final while John Mark Coronel and Aldam Isdam placed last among six entries in the men’s grand final. In woodball, Teodulfo Villaflor placed 38th, Noah Nocom was 39th and Joshua John Santiago landed 41st in the men’s individual final at the Ayodya Hotel beach. The Philippines currently ranks 13th in the medal tally with one silver and six bronzes while Indonesia remains on top with 12 golds, 5 silver and 9 bronzes followed by Thailand (4-6-4), Vietnam (2-5-2), Chinese Taipei (2-2-2), Myanmar (2-2-0), Malaysia (2-1-3), India (2-0-1), Japan (2-0-1), South Korea (1-1-5), UAE (1-0-1), Kazakhstan (1-0-0), China (0-3-1) and Brunei (0-2-2). – GMANews.TV