ALAS Pilipinas, the Philippine women’s beach volleyball teams, kicked off their campaigns at the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships with strong performances on Wednesday.
The duo of Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara secured a 21-19, 21-18 victory over New Zealand’s Shauna Polley and Olivia MacDonald in Pool E.
Meanwhile, Gen Eslapor and Kly Orillaneda dominated their Pool F match, defeating Kazakhstan’s Yekaterina Ryukhova and Anastassiya Ukolova 21-19, 21-13.
The tournament, hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and sanctioned by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) — both headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara, is currently underway at the Nuvali Sand Courts in Santa Rosa City.
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 John Francisco, 21-11, 21-16.
Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists Ran 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.
AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open champions Jana Milutinovic and Stefanie Fejes of Australia were also off to a hot start via a 21-11, 21-13 rout of Japanese qualifiers Kana Motomura and Nayu Motomura.
The top-rated pair of Wang Jingzhe and Xia Xinyi of China eased past Indonesian qualifiers Kaize Josephine Selvina Anasthasya and Melinda Novita Sari Devi, 21-14, 21-10, in the event backed by Nuvali, Ayala Land, Rebisco, Smart, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, City of Santa Rosa, Mikasa, Senoh, Asics, Akari, Sip, Cignal, One Sports, One Sports Plus and Pilipinas Live.
Australia’s Tara Phillips and Kayl Mears scored a 21-12, 21-13 victory over Kazakhstan’s Laura Kabulbekova and Nadezhda Ivanchenko.
Indonesia’s Desi Ratnasari and Nur Atika Sari held off Thailand’s Patcharaporn Seehawong and Samitta Simarongnam, 22-20, 18-21, 15-7.
China’s Xue Chen and Zeng Jinjin posted a 21-14, 21-11 drubbing of Japan’s Ren Matsumoto and Non Matsumoto.
Thai qualifiers Salinda Mungkhon and Somruedee Koedkaew pulled off a 14-21, 21-18, 15-8 win over Vanuatu’s Sherysyn Van Toko and Majabelle Lawac.
Jasmine Fleming and Elizabeth Alchin of Australia won, 21-17, 21-18, over China’s Yu Tong and Jiang Kaiyue.
China’s Yan Xu and Zhou Mingli beat Japan’s Riko Tsujimura and Takemi Nishibori, 21-19, 21-10.
Japan’s Asami Shiba and Saki Maruyama turned back Thai qualifiers Tanarattha Udomchavee and Rumpaipruet Numwong, 21-15, 21-17.
