Pinay spikers finish 8th in Asiad
JAKARTA: The Philippines took a 17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 20-25 beating again from Indonesia to wind up its women’s volleyball competition in the 18th Asian Games with only one victory as against four losses on Saturday at the Gor Bulungan Gym inside the Gelora Bung Karno complex.
With star spiker Aprilia Santini Manganang leading the Indonesians, the Filipinas faded in the fourth set to yield the seventh-place spot to the hosts in front of a boisterous home crowd.
Manganang delivered 16 kills and three blocks for 19 points while her sister, an equally-powerful Amasya Manganang, finished with eight points she laced with crucial hits in the third and fourth sets.
The second setback to Indonesia placed the Philippines in eighth place—a good enough windup ahead of Taiwan, India and Hong Kong in the 11-nation competition.
Alyssa Valdez powers through the two Indonesian blockers during the 18th Asian Games women’s volleyball classification round on Saturday at the Gor Bulungan Gym in Jakarta, Indonesia. ASIAD POOL PHOTO
Head coach Shaq Delos Santos was satisfied with the performance that saw the Philippines returning to Asian Games volleyball since New Delhi in 1982.
“We came here with a very modest goal of making it into quarterfinals, so it’s still a mission accomplished for us,” said Delos Santos.
A straight-set win over Hong Kong in the preliminaries book the Filipinas a slot in the quarterfinals where they ran into mighty China.
Delos Santos said the seventh-place finish is a strong booster for the country’s bid in next year’s 30th SEA Games.
“We will not stop. We’re just starting the national team program. Our training and exposure in other major tournaments would definitely continue.”
Mylene Paat was the lone bright spot with 10 hits while Alyssa Valdez and Aby Marano chipped in nine and six markers, respectively, for the Nationals, who will march to the AVC Asian Cup in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand in the next couple of weeks.
PH triathletes fail to deliver
John Chicano and Niko Huelgas lived up to their billing as the best male triathletes in Southeast Asia on Saturday by finishing 10th and 16th, respectively, in men’s triathlon in Palembang.
Pitted against world-rated rivals, Chicano, a silver medalist in the 2017 Malaysia Southeast Asian Games, clocked one hour, 54 minutes and 33 seconds in the 1.80-km swim/20-km bike/10-km run race, exceeding his personal best of 1:56.00 set in the 2016 Subic International Triathlon.
Huelgas, who bagged back-to-back golds in the 2015 Singapore and 2017 Malaysia SEA Games, logged 1:58.39, surpassing his previous time of 1:59.17 in placing 11th in the 2014 Incheon Games.
ASIAD POOL
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