STA. ROSA, Laguna — Alas Pilipinas Women’s teams aren’t going anywhere just yet.
A new chapter awaits in the Cinderella run of 18 and 19-year-old rising stars Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara upon advancing to the Round of 16 of the 2024 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in Nuvali.
After split results on opening day, the Progella-Pagara pair fell one set shy of a second win as its dominant Set 1 start went for naught in a 21-14, 16-21, 10-15 heartbreak to erstwhile winless Chinese duo Yu Tong and Jiang Kaiyue.
Still, their superior sets ratio gave them just the edge they needed to become the first Philippine women’s team to reach the knockout stage since Creamline’s Dij Rodriguez and Gen Eslapor in 2022.
Standing in the Progella-Pagara pair’s way of a breakthrough quarterfinals berth is China's Xue Chen and Zeng Jinjin, who’ll they play on Friday at 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, one more win separates Eslapor from a return trip to the knockouts with Kly Orillaneda.
They must win their wildcard match over Japan's sister duo Kana and Nayu Motomura on Friday at 8:30 a.m. to secure one of two remaining spots in the final 16.
Should the Eslapor-Orillaneda tandem take down its Japanese foes, a date with China’s Wang Jingzhe and last year’s champion Xia Xinyi awaits just five hours later in the afternoon session.
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