Turning a heartbreaking loss less than a day before into fuel that drove them harder, Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara captured a historic bronze medal in the Asian Games women’s beach volleyball tournament by rallying past a Chinese pair at Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court on Friday.
The young Alas Pilipinas tandem battled back from a slow start to stun Cao Shuting and Dong Jie, 13-21, 23-21, 15-13, and secure the Philippines’ first-ever Asiad medal in beach volleyball.
‘We are just so overwhelmed with what has taken place,’ Pagara said in Filipino minutes after the win. ‘We really worked hard for this and we feel that we really deserve this.’
Dominated in the first set and facing match point in the second, Progella and Pagara refused to yield, as the hard-fighting pair out of University of Santo Tomas rallied doggedly to force a decider and make it anybody’s match.
From 10-all, Progella and Pagara surged ahead, 14-12, putting themselves within one point of the bronze. China saved one match point, but the Filipinas remained composed.
Dong then sent a pass long, which triggered a celebration from the Philippine side as Progella and Pagara secured their place in Asian Games history.
‘There were really jitters in the first set,’ Progella said. ‘But after that, we were able to overcome the pressure.’
Golfers bow out
Meanwhile, the Philippine golf teams slid down the standings as South Korea, led by PGA star Tom Kim, and China, spearheaded by former world No. 1 and major champion Ruoning Yin, took control of the men’s and women’s team events, respectively, at Kasugai Golf Club’s East course.
Justin delos Santos and Miguel Tabuena both accounted for one-over-par 71s for a third round 142 as the Filipinos fell out of medal contention with a 416 aggregate, 16 shots behind the Koreans.
Rianne Malixi and Bianca Pagdanganan also accounted for 71s for their 142 as the Filipino women fell 13 shots out of the lead with their 418 as Yin powered the Chinese to a 137 after a 66 to lead India by four shots.
Individually, Delos Santos and Malixi remained as the brightest performers for Team Philippines, with Delos Santos tied for 12th spot at 206, down by eight shots to new leader Kim, who fired a 65 for 198.