EYA Laure was the lone Alas Pilipinas Women player who did not see action in both of the team’s opening matches in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games against Thailand and Singapore.
On paper, the absence is puzzling as the current free agent was one of the earliest to commit to the Alas Pilipinas training pool for the biennial meet and has been a fixture in head coach Jorge Souza de Brito’s roster for the past year.
But there is a simple explanation for her zero minutes so far as Laure is nursing a minor fitness setback heading into the tournament.
READ: Alas Women advance to SEA Games semis after sweeping Singapore
Laure, a holdover from the Philippine-hosted 2019 SEA Games, suffered abdominal discomfort shortly before the team flew to Bangkok.
“She’s recovering from a minor injury in her abs. When she’ll be ready, she will be. That’s why she’s not playing now,” de Brito said.
The 59-year-old Brazilian tactician even revealed that Laure’s late issue nearly triggered another last-minute roster change — something the team could barely afford after already executing a surprise swap that removed Alleiah Malaluan and inserted Julia Coronel.
“She felt [abdominal pain] when we were in the Philippines. There was not enough time to change the roster since we had one change already but she’s good. She’ll be back and she’s here,” he said.
With four outside hitters currently in rotation in Angel Canino, Bella Belen, Shaina Nitura and Vanie Gandler, Laure will not immediately slide into a starting role once cleared. Instead, she will need to fight for her place in a wing corps that has quickly taken shape through two matches.
“She did some spikes today. She’s not feeling pain, so that’s it,” de Brito said.
“When she comes back, she has to fight for her spot, and there’s another one to come.”
Alas Women return to action in the semifinals after clinching the last ticket out of pool play, and all eyes will be on whether Laure finally checks in at this stage of their medal chase.
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