Philippine Navy Team A and B swept their respective groups yesterday to advance in the men’s semifinals of the Philippine Superliga Challenge Cup beach volleyball tournament at the SM Sands by the Bay at the Mall of Asia grounds.
Navy A’s Nur-amin Madsairi and Roldan Medino remained flawless at the sandcourt and walloped SM by the Bay’s Daniel and Tim Young, 21-9, 21-9, before surviving TVM’s Kris Guzman and Anthony Arbasto, 16-21, 21-17, 18-16, in Pool B.
Navy B’s Pajiji Alsali and Milover Parcon, meanwhile, defeated University of the East’s Rodmar Ortega and Ruvince Abrot, 21-13, 21-18, and then dominated Far Eastern University (FEU) A’s Joel Cayaban and Franco Camcam, 21-18, 21-10, in Pool A.
Both Navy A and B finished with 4-0 cards in their respective pools after fishing two triumphs in the previous two playdates.
Despite the loss to Navy B, FEU A remained in contention in its title bid after downing IEM’s Arjay Salcedo and Bobby Gatdula, 21-17, 21-10.
Meantime, Petron XCS’ Bang Pineda and Aiza Pontillas leaned on their on-court chemistry as they stunned fancied Danika Gendrauli and new partner Aby Maraño of F2 Logistics, 21-17, 21-16, yesterday to march into the women’s semifinals of the Philippine Superliga Challenge Cup beach volleyball tournament at the SM Sands by the Bay at the Mall of Asia grounds.
Pineda and Pontillas, pairing up for the first time but veteran in their own ways, dominated Gendrauli, one-half of last year’s champion, and Maraño with their strong serves and smart receptions to inch closer to the crown.
The victory set Pineda and Pontillas a Final Four meeting with RC Cola Army A’s Jovelyn Gonzaga and Nene Bautista, who thumped Petron Sprint 4T’s Ces Molina and Maica Morada, 21-14, 21-12.