Alas Pilipinas’ Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara saw their gold medal hopes end after a heartbreaking 21-23, 18-21 loss to Thailand in the Asian Games women’s beach volleyball semifinal on Thursday at Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court.
Progella and Pagara were two points away from taking the first set with a 19-15 lead, but Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphonapat and Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee dug deep to take a 20-19 advantage.
The Filipinos saved two set points, but Naraphonapat struck to close out the set-the first one the young Alas duo had dropped in the tournament.
The pair from University of Santo Tomas took a 14-12 lead in the second, but Thailand scored six straight points to take an 18-14 advantage.
Alas Pilipinas’ Sofiah Pagara during a match vs Thailand in the Asian Games 2026 beach volleyball semifinals. -AVC PHOTO
Progella kept the Filipinos within striking distance, scoring points to cut the deficit to two, 19-17. Pagara then sent her serve into the net to put Thailand at match point before making up for the error by saving one.
But Naraphonapat used her height to score over the Filipino pair and send Thailand to the gold medal match.
Thailand, which lost in the semifinals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, returned to the women’s beach volleyball final for the first time in 12 years.
Naraphonapat and Kongphopsarutawadee also eliminated Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons from contention in the quarterfinals, 17-21, 21-12, 13-15, on Wednesday.
The Philippines is already bound for its best finish in the Asian Games since beach volleyball was introduced in the 1994 Hiroshima edition.