IT was a troubling start on home soil for both Alas Pilipinas Men’s beach volleyball teams on Wednesday.
National team veteran Ranran Abdilla and James Buytrago fell ever-so short in a 20-22, 19-21 heartbreak against New Zealand’s Alani Nicklin and Thomas Hartles to begin the 2024 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships on Wednesday at the Nuvali Sand Courts in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Heartbreaker for Alas
Buytrago saved the first set point of a nip-and-tuck opener with a quick tap shot to force an extension, only to be negated by his own service error and a net rejection.
The same story unfolded come Set 2 as it was Buytrago who save one match point before being denied yet again by the Nicklin-Hartles pair.
Despite out-attacking their Kiwi counterparts by 31 to 24, the Alas pair shot itself in the foot with 13 expensive errors.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t as close for the other Alas pair of Lerry Francisco and Rancel Varga who lose to Australian duo D'Artagnan Potts and Jack Pearse, 11-21, 11-16.
The third-seeded Aussie tandem seized control of the match right off the bat by outsmarting the Alas side with a quick mix of drop shots and power hits.
It would be too little too late for the Francisco-Varga pair to make amends as their late three-point run from seven match points down in the second set went for naught.
Unlike the Abdilla-Buytrago duo, Francisco-Varga had four less faults than the Aussies but just couldn’t get its offense going with an 11 to 25 attacking deficit.
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