Alas Pilipinas beach duo suffers heartbreak

Alas Pilipinas just saw its gold medal hopes crumble.

Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara collapsed under immense pressure, falling to the Thais Taravadee Naraphornrapat and Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, 21-23, 18-21, in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games women’s beach volleyball semifinal on Thursday at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court.

The lone Alas tandem in medal contention let significant leads slip as the Thais barged into the gold medal match against China’s Xinyi Xia and Xu Yan.

“We were in that moment where the win was within our hands but let it slip. We lost grip in the endgame,” Progella said.

Progella and Pagara will try to salvage the country’s first-ever podium finish in the competition Friday in the battle for bronze against China’s Shuting Cao and Jie Dong at 11 a.m. (Manila time).

The erstwhile unbeaten Filipinas were two points away from taking the opening set after posting a 19-15 advantage. But the Thais, who on Wednesday eliminated Sisi Rondina-Rosales and Bernadeth Pons in the quarterfinal, spoiling a potential all-Filipino semis, charged back with five unanswered points to take the setpoint advantage.

Alas saved two set points but Naraphornrapat closed the frame and handed the University of Santo Tomas standouts their first set loss in six games.

The Pinay tandem once again squandered a four-point lead as Thailand rallied from 11-7 down in the second set. The Thais took control of the frame, when they erased Alas’ 14-12 advantage with a 6-0 run.

Progella kept Alas within striking distance, 19-17, only for Pagara to commit a costly service error that put the Thais at match point.

Pagara saved a point but towering Naraphornapat smacked a strong kill over the Filipino pair’s defense to punch a finals ticket.

“We have to focus now on addressing our lapses in this game. We have the skills but we need to correct our mistakes and believe that we can win. We need focus, trust, and patience,” Pagara said.

Regardless of its last game result, the Philippines has already reached its best finish since Asiad beach volleyball was introduced in the 1994 Hiroshima edition.