The Filipina pair of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons begins its quest for a podium finish in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games as it battles Indonesia at the start of the beach volleyball tournament today at the Subic Tennis Court.

Rondina and Pons face their rivals at 5:30 p.m. as they aim to end the country’s 14-year medal drought in the competition.

The Pinay pair finished fifth in the last edition of the biennial competition held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and they vow to better that position especially playing in front of a hometown crowd.

“We have been preparing for this one for a short but intense training period,” said Pons, a former standout for the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws and currently playing for the Petron Blaze Lady Spikers in Philippine Superliga (PSL).

“We want to bag the gold medal for the Philippines especially that we will be holding the competition here,” the 23-year-old power hitter added.

The last time the country won a medal in the biennial meet was when the country last hosted the event in 2005 courtesy of Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua, who bagged the bronze medal.

Rondina and Pons bring their rich experience on the sand as they ruled various local beach tourneys here including the 2017 PSL Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup.

The duo also played in the 2019 International Volleyball Federation Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open where they settled for fifth place.

Just recently, they ruled the 2019 Rebisco Beach Volleyball International Open held at the Sands By The Bay in Pasay City, a warm-up for the 30th SEA Games beach volleyball tournament.

“We were in a lot of competitions the past couple of months and we’re positive for our chances for the gold medal,” the five-foot-seven spiker Pons said.

Aside from Rondina and Pons, the other Filipina pair in the competition is Dzi Gervacio and Dij Rodriguez, a standout from the Southwestern University.

Meanwhile, Edmar Bonono and Jude Garcia begin the Philippine men’s campaign as they face the duo from Timor-Leste at 9 a.m. also in the same venue.

Jaron Requinton and James Buytrago are the second pair of the host nation in the competition.