2-for-2 for RP beach-volley
pair; medal chances ‘good’

By Jun Lomibao
Editor

DOHA—A supportive and boisterous crowd of about 200 Filipino volunteers put on the heat in a chilly December night for the pair of Diane Pascua and Heidi Ilustre, who completed a Philippine sweep of the beach volleyball first round of the 15th Asian Games.
           
Pascua and Ilustre, the Filipino-American pair, had to teeter though before beating Marina Storozhenko and Yelena Alenkina, the pair from a country that doesn’t have a beach at all—Kazakhstan.
           
The score went 21-15, 11-21, 17-15, pushing the RP pair’s supporters on the edge of their seats for most part of the match.
           
Earlier in the day at the Sports City sand court, Parley Tupaz and Rhoyvi Velayo also won their initial assignment, 21-12, 21-14, over the Omani pair of Al Abri and Al Subri.
           
Mode of play in beach volleyball is double eliminations. Thus, according to Tony Liao, a technical delegate of the international volleyball federation, both pairs have strong chances to get a medal.
           
Although the men have India as their next foe, a relatively easy task, the women have to dig deep in their arsenal—and avoid certain lapses they had against the Kazakhs—when they meet a Chinese pair next Sunday.
           
Against the Kazakhs, Pascua and Ilustre had to shake off the stressful shadowing of their rivals to snare the first set, where they hardly led by more than five points. In the second set when they looked pretty for a sweep, the Kazakhs found their rhythm back and zoomed to 13-4. They did not let their lead go down to a single digit after that.
           
“They figured us out,” said Pascua, whose partnership with Ilustre was forged in last year’s Southeast Asian Games. “But thank God the crowd was wonderful and they got us going.”
           
The crowd erupted in cheers each time the RP pair scored. And because beach volleyball allows the playing of lively music, the fans—and even chief of mission William Ramirez and PSC commissioner Ritchie Garcia and equestrian champion Mikee Cojuangco Jaworski—could have gone to a partying frenzy during the match.
           
Pascua later admitted though they had to squeeze through with the win.
           
“We needed a lot of nerves,” she said, “but we enjoyed the match.”

Asian Beach Games next

Tourism gets a major boost when the country takes its turn at hosting the Asian Beach Games—but that has to come in eight years yet.
           
Although the intention was to host the new multisport continental event in 2010 after the 2008 inaugurals in Bali, Indonesia, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has instead gave the Philippines its turn in 2014, or after Jordan in 2010 and China in 2012.
           
Boracay, according to Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, was the No. 1 and only choice for the venue, although Siargao could be hosting the surfing events because there are not that enough and big waves in the beach paradise in the Visayas.
           
However, Puentevella, the first vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, said that after he expresses gratitude to OCA president H.E. Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait, he would have to inquire on why the country’s hosting was set much later.
           
“We are grateful we have been awarded a chance to host the Beach Games, but it’s very funny because we knew all the while that our turn would be in 2010,” said Puentevella.
           
OCA officials, in a meeting Saturday here where the organization’s new logo was officially launched, formally made the announcements about the Beach Games.
           
In Bali, competitions will be in marathon swimming, wind surfing, jetski, beach handball, dragon boat, surfing, parasailing, beach soccer, beach volleyball and triathlon, with majority of the 49 member-countries of the OCA keen at participating.
           
“Resort owners in Boracay already know about these Beach Games and they are very much interested in them,” said Puentevella.
           
Aklan Rep. Joven Miraflores and Fairways and Bluewater Resort owner Noel Cariño are two of the major backers of the hosting, he added.
           
“This will be a big boost to the country’s tourism industry, and where else should we bring the Beach Games than in Boracay,” said Puentevella.