Asian Games 2022: PH Spikers falls to Indonesia as beach VB teams suffer contrasting results
2023-Sep-20 12:06
2024-Aug-08 14:14
SOLO EFFORT. Bryan Bagunas was the lone Filipino player in double figures for the Philippines in their opening 2022 Asian Games match against Indonesia. PHOTO: CGTN Sports Scene
The Philippine men's national volleyball team (PMNVT) lost their opening match as the country's beach volleyball squads had different fates as the pandemic-delayed 19th Asian Games – originally scheduled to run from September 10-25, 2022 – began on Tuesday, September 19.
Indonesia crushes Bagunas' solo effort as PH suffers loss in Asiad return
A rude welcome was what Indonesia served to Asiad returnee PMNVT as the defending three-peat Southeast Asian Games champion dealt the latter a 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 beating at DQ Sports Gymnasium despite the game-high 16 points of Bryan Bagunas, the reigning Top Volleyball League Most Valuable Player.
Bagunas uncorked 15 kills and an ace, but not enough to lift the Filipino spikers past the Indonesians, winners of both legs of the 2023 SEA V. League, in their comeback in the Asian Games scene after 49 years of absence in the continental competition.
Opposite spiker Steven Rotter added nine points on nine spikes while Korea V. League-bound Marck Espejo tallied eight markers.
The nationals dropped to 0-1 in Pool F, while Indonesia went to 1-0 behind their three double-digit scorers.
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Agil Angga Anggara led the Indonesians with 11 points, while Doni Haryono and Fahry Septian Putratama listed 10 markers each to join Japan in the win column. Ryujin Nippon swept Afghanistan, 26-24, 25-22, 25-8, earlier for their first win in the quadrennial meet postponed last 2022 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Bagunas and the Sergio Veloso-mentored squad will face Afghanistan on September 20 at 2:30 p.m. Indonesia, on the other hand, takes on Indonesia by 7 p.m. on the same day.
Filipinas beach volleybelles unblemished, men's pair loses
STRONG START. The Dij Rodriguez-Gen Eslapor tandem was off a winning note in the 2022 Asian Games as their pair dominated the opposing South Korean duo in straight sets. PHOTO: AVC
The two women's pairs from the Philippines remained unscathed, while their male counterparts absorbed a heartbreaker in the Asiad's beach volleyball tournaments at Banxiangshan Beach Volleyball Centre in Ningbo.
Khylem Progella and Grydelle Matibag churned out a come-from-behind 17-21, 23-21, 15-13 victory over Hong Kong's To Wing Tung and Wong Man Ching for their first win in Pool B.
The Dij Rodriguez-Gen Eslapor pair, meanwhile, rolled past the hapless tandem of Shin Jieun and Kim Seyeon from South Korea, 21-11, 21-6, for a 1-0 record in Pool A.
Sadly, Alnakran Abdilla and Jaron Requinton couldn't join the party as they got beaten by Indonesia's Danangsyah Yudistira Pribadi and Sofyan Rachman Efendi in three sets, 13-21, 21-16, 15-8, in Pool B.
Rodriguez and Esplapor take on host China and Kazakhstan when they return to sand court action on September 20, while Progella and Matibag deal with Indonesia.
On the same date, other Philippine men's pair Jude Garcia and James Buytrago will make their debut in Pool A against China's home bets.
Abdilla and Requinton will have a two-day rest for their last assignment versus Qatar on September 22.