BANGKOK, Thailand — The Filipinas are not yet done making history.
After the unforgettable victories of Alex Eala in lawn tennis and the Filipinas in women’s football, it was Alas Pilipinas’ turn to rewrite history as Sisi Rondina, Bernadeth Pons, Dij Rodriguez and Sunny Villapando shocked Thailand to secure a breakthrough gold medal in the women’s beach volleyball competition of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the Sport Arena Jomtien Beach in Chonburi.
Rondina and Pons, who gained significant experience playing in various international tournaments, kicked off the finals tie by sweeping three-time champions Kongphopsarutawadee Worapeerachayakorn and Taravadee Naraphornrapat, 21-17, 21-15.
Then, the tandem of Rodriguez and Villapando finished the job with a 21-13, 17-21, 15-6 win over Tanarattha Udomchavee and Rumpaipruet Numwong to formalize the victory that ended the Thais’ 16-year reign in the sport that was first introduced in the 2003 edition in Hanoi.
The first time the Filipinas won a SEA Games medal in beach volleyball was when the Filipino-American tandem of Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua settled for the bronze medal during the country’s hosting of the Games in 2005 in Bacolod City in which two Thai pairs collided in the gold-medal match.
There was a long lull after that until Rondina and Pons grabbed the bronze medals in the 2019 and 2021 editions in Manila and Hanoi.
Newly-elected Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Tonyboy Liao was at the sidelines to personally witness the historic feat.
“At least we witnessed this historic moment. This win is history,” said Liao, a prime mover of beach volleyball in the country who also was behind the podium finish of Ilustre and Pascua around two decades ago. He also serves as consultant of the largely successful Beach Volleyball Republic that served as the breeding ground of rising stars like Rondina and Pons.
“We’ve never played in the finals. For us to play in the finals is already an achievement. Even if we lost and took the silver, it’s already an achievement. What more if it’s the gold. All the more that it’s a big honor for the country. Hopefully, we can sustain it.”
Rondina, a seasoned beach spiker from University of Santo Tomas, is over the moon over the feat that took them five editions of the SEA Games to accomplish.
“I’m so happy, especially for our tandem with Pons. We have been competing in the five editions of the SEA Games and we finally achieved this gold medal,” Rondina said.
“We have teammates, coaches and management who keep their faith in us and trust us that we’re working hard. I said that for as long as we’ll stay consistent, the podium will always be there. I think the biggest secret to our success in the SEA Games is our consistency.”
Reunited after linking up with different partners in the 2023 edition and coming home medal-less, Rondina and Pons made it their mission to bounce back.
“That’s our main motivation; we didn’t win a medal in the previous SEA Games so we told ourselves that we will bounce back. Fortunately, we did it. Rest assured that we’ll work even harder to sustain this,” Pons added.