WITH less than 24 hours before their semis-deciding duel against Singapore, Alas Pilipinas will not be losing too much sleep over the 11-25, 17-25, 16-25 beating they absorbed from host Thailand on Thursday.
READ: Alas now in must-win situation after opener loss to Thailand
Take it from seasoned national team veteran Maddie Madayag, who took the first loss of the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in stride and broke down the result with no excuses moments after the final whistle.
“Honestly, Thailand was really ready for us. ‘Yun lang ‘yung masasabi ko,” she said.
“I don’t think we were able to give an answer to their attacks. Binigyan kami ng pagkakatao,n pero medyo late na kami nakabawi, late na kami lumaban sa kanila.”
Thailand entered the match as overwhelming favorites for good reason: the 14-time reigning champions had swept their previous four SEA Games meetings with the Philippines and once again showed the form befitting the region’s gold standard.
The dynamics will be reversed on Friday, when the Filipinos face a young and largely inexperienced Singapore squad that is also the second-youngest roster in the seven-team field with an average age of 20.9 compared to Alas at 25.1.
With the last semifinal berth at stake, the question now is whether Alas' edge in experience and big-game mileage will be enough to push them through.
Madayag, however, is not making bold predictions. But what she does guarantee is the same commitment and urgency that has defined the Alas program over the past year.
“We’ll just take what we can from this game and forget lahat ng mga errors and everything. I’m sure we can bounce back. Mature naman ‘yung team to not overthink about that stuff,” she said.
“I just wish na mas magiging maganda, and I hope magiging maganda dahil for sure, pagtatrabuhan and pagmi-meetingan namin ‘yung game today para mas maganda ‘yung laban tomorrow.”
Medal chances still up there
As for the broader medal chase, Madayag insists that Thursday’s lopsided loss will not dim the Nationals’ belief in ending a 20-year SEA Games podium drought.
“Hindi naman kami naglu-lose ng hope. Gusto lang talaga namin na mas maging better ‘yung performance namin,” she added.
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