Day of heartbreaks for Filipino AYG bets

RIFFA, Bahrain — The Philippines endured a day of heartbreaks in the 3rd Asian Youth Games, coming agonizingly close to the podium in several events but falling short each time.

Alas Pilipinas and several jiujitsu fighters finished fourth in their respective events, narrowly missing out on medals.

The scoreboard showed a sweep, though the match was anything but one-sided, as Thailand edged out the Philippines in the bronze medal match, 26-24, 25-20, 26-24, on Wednesday night.

Rhose Almendralejo had a match-high 15 points to lead the Alas Pilipinas while Harlyn Serneche and Samantha Cantada had eight points each.

Natthawan Phatthaisong scored 13, Sasithorn Jatta added 12, Nattharika Wasan came up with 11 points, and Wisaruta Sengna chipped in 10 for Thailand, which completed the win in one hour and 29 minutes.

Jai Adrao, who had five points including two blocks, said the team struggled to close out sets despite staying competitive throughout.

“As we can see, we tried so hard to catch up but we always fell short in the end. I think it’s something that coach was telling us to polish our movements,” Adrao said.

“We can see our lapses and our errors surfaced in the end.”

Still, Adrao said the team remained proud of their effort and grateful for the opportunity to compete.

“Of course, we are truly grateful for this experience. For me, I am grateful to the PNVF (Philippine National Volleyball Federation), PSC (Philippine Sports Commission), POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) and, of course, the national University for helping us prepare for this tournament.”

Podium places also proved elusive for the Philippines in jiujitsu at Exhibition World Bahrain in Sakhir.

Adam Fernani of Saudi Arabia beat Zeus in the battle for bronze by submission with one minute and 19 seconds left in the boys’ -85-kilogram class.

Babanto earlier beat Kuwait’s Dhari Alfouzan, 3-0.