By REYNALD MAGALLON
SANYA, China — The Gilas Pilipinas teams advanced to the quarterfinals after topping their respective groups in the 3×3 basketball tournament in the 6th Asian Beach Games at the Sanya Gymnasium on Monday, April 27 here.
The men’s team topped the Group A standings despite absorbing its first taste of defeat against Iran, 14-21 while the women’s squad swept its pool play assignment with a 21-15 win to get the outright spot to the knockout stage.
Mohammadmahdi Rahimi and Piter Girgoorian proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of the Filipinos as they combined for 15 points, keeping the rallying Gilas at bay.
Jeff Manday and Nic Cabanero were the only scorers for Gilas with nine and five respectively.
“We accomplished our goal, to top our pool. The boys deserved to be here. They worked hard and this is a blessing for us because of the hard work we put in on the first day,” said men’s 3×3 coach Patrick Fran.
Gilas claimed the top spot despite similar standings with Iran and China due to superior points scored following their victories over the host and Macao in the opening day of the competitions.
On the distaff side, the Nationals bucked a slow start and defeated Kyrgyzstan to close out the pool play with a perfect 3-0 record.
“Defense is going to be the key to helping us win all of these games. We just had to stay focused on defense because our shots will come, will go through if we focus on defense,” said Gabi Bade.
Reynalyn Ferrer and Mika Cacho led the way with eight and seven respectively.
Meanwhile, the Alas Pilipinas beach volleyball teams fall short of advancing to the semifinals after falling to representatives from powerhouses Japan and Thailand at the Tianya Haijiao Venue Cluster.
The pair of Sunnie Villapando and Grydelle Matibag succumbed to Japanese sisters of Ren and Non Matsumoto, 10-21, 13-21 while the duo of Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara lost to Thais and SEA Games silver medalists Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornapat, 17-21,15-21.
As of press time, the Philippines remain at the third spot of the standing with three golds, two silvers and two bronzes.
