Photo by AVC
ALAS Pilipinas' top bets Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara split their two women's matches in the opening day of the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships pool play Wednesday at the Nuvali Sand Courts in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Progella and Pagara, the Beach Volleyball Republic on Tour Sipalay champions, overcame New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley and Olivia MacDonald, 21-19, 21-18, in Pool E opener.
Polley and MacDonald are familiar to Filipino beach volleyball fans, as the Beach Ferns duo have played for many international tournaments in the country.
But Progella and Pagara settled for a 1-1 record after bowing to Australia's Lizzie Alchin and Jasmine Fleming, 10-21, 13-21, in the afternoon session.
Gen Eslapor and Kly Orillaneda defeated Yekaterina Ryukhova and Anastassiya Ukolova of Kazakhstan, 21-19, 21-13 in Pool F also of the tournament.
Eslapor and Orillaneda also ended the day at 1-1 after losing to Thailand's Tanarattha Udomchavee and Rumpaipruet Numwong, 10-21, 13-21.
Action resumes Thursday, with Progella and Pagara China’s Yu Tong and Jiang Kaiyue at 12:50 p.m. as they to finish pool play with a 2-1 record.
Orillaneda and Eslapor will face Japan’s Asami Shiba and Chika Nakagawa, bagged in the bronze medal in the 2024 FIVB Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Qingdao at 1:40 p.m., seeking to also end up at 2-1. The two will have a chance to avenge the loss suffered by Progella and Pagara to the Japanese pair in the quarterfinals.
The Philippines, however, suffered an early double whammy in the men’s side as D’Artagnan Potts and Jack Pearse of Australia downed Rancel Varga and Lerry Francisco, 21-11, 21-16, in Pool C.
Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists Ranran Abdilla and James Buytrago also dropped their first match, a tight 20-22, 19-21 loss to Alani Nicklin and Thomas Hartles of New Zealand in Pool F.
The matches are aired live on One Sports+ and on the Pilipinas Live app.
