Rondina, Gonzaga deliver in Subic

SUBIC, Philippines — Before a sizable cheering crowd, Sisi Rondina and Jovs Gonzaga led a proud stand by the home teams in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures here, repulsing tall rivals from Canada and Czech Republic to make the knockout stage.

Rondina and Gonzaga make a solid pair that is a delight to watch on the sands, ticking and clicking in straight-sets conquests of Canada’s Darby Dunn and Grace Furland and Czech Republic’s Valerie Dvroniskova and Anna Pospisilova.

The leading Filipina duo shook off first-game jitters in a 21-19, 21-18 win over the Canadians then played brilliantly under the searing high-noon sun in a 21-14, 21-16 rout of the Czechs.

“We had a good court coverage, we scored on our attacks, at iba rin talaga yung naglalaro ka in front of the home crowd,” said Rondina, previously paired with Bernadeth Pons.

Dij Rodriguez and Jen Eslapor also wowed the crowd in a 21-7, 21-13 demolition of Singaporeans Cecilia Hui and Alicia Tan before reeling to a 13-21, 16-21 loss to the strong lsraeli duo of Anita Dave and Yahli Ashush.

Jude Garcia and Krung Arbasto had their winning start in the men’s side of this Beach Pro Tour, a circuit that is about to end its first edition since its transition from its former name the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Fifth placers in the Asian Championship in Phuket, Garcia and Arbasto showed their chemistry and cohesion as they blasted Japanese Ryota Sato and Ryo Shindo, 21-15, 21-12.

As the youngest local pair, Grydelle Matibag and Khylem Pragalla consoled themselves with the experience gained in losses to two Japanese teams.

The other Phl duos of Ranran Abdilla and Jaron Requinton and James Buytrago and Pol Salvador dropped their initial assignments in the tough four-day event that shifts to knockout play starting today.

Garcia and Arbasto are the country’s top male team with 632 entry points (ranked No. 4 of 16 teams) while Abdilla and Requinton have 272. Buytrago and Salvador are playing their first futures.

Beach touring pros are after performance points on top of the prize money to be able to qualify for the challenges where one gets a chance to crack the Elite 16 who slug it out for the Beach Pro Tour Finals and the World Championships.