SANTA ROSA, Laguna --- Ronniel Rosales and Ranran Abdilla were forced to withdraw in their do-or-die match in the pool play due to health reasons as their campaign in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali Challenge came to an abrupt end Friday.
As a precaution following Rosales’ scary spike in blood pressure the day before, the Alas Pilipinas men’s duo decided not to continue and handed their British opponents a walkover win in the prestigious competition being held at the Nuvali Sands Courts here.
“You could really see that my partner’s body hadn’t fully recovered. He’s feeling a bit better now, but he’s still not in good condition to play. He recovered a little from yesterday, but not enough. His head still hurts,” Abdilla said.
“I told him that our game is at 10:30 under extreme heat. Maybe he can still play, but the big question is whether he can actually finish the match.”
England’s Frederick Bialokoz and Issa Batrane took a 21-0, 21-0, over the host squad to advance to the next round of the Nuvali Challenge organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission under the leadership of chairman Patrick Gregorio.
Rosales received medical attention early in the second set of their opening day match against Americans Hagen Smith and Ryan Ierna. He couldn’t continue due to his condition as they yielded the match, 21-10, 3-2.
“We already talked about it, and of course, this wasn’t something we wanted to happen. Situations like this really happen sometimes. Actually, I experienced something similar last year, too. So, I think it’s really about acceptance and learning from it,” Abdilla said.
“We realized that we really need to take care of our health better. Proper nutrition and care of the body should always be the number one priority. That’s now part of our preparation moving forward.”
Abdilla is crossing his fingers that the team will still be able to compete in the Asian Games in Japan and looks forward to seeing action in other international events in China and Chinese Taipei.
The sudden withdrawals officially booted out the host nation in the tournament after Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons’ earlier exit in the women’s division.
In other men’s results, Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb of Team USA completed a two-game sweep with a 21-19, 21-11 triumph over Brazil’s Henrique de Barros and Mateus Rodriges in the four-day beach volleyball tilt supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Rebisco, Akari, Ayala Land and PLDT.
Austria’s Julian Horl and Laurenc Grossig eliminated Luke de Greeff and Tynan Gannett of Canada, 21-13, 21-15, in Pool B.
Israel’s Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov also bagged their second win in Pool A with a 21-15, 21-15 win over Lithuania’s Arnas Rumsevicius and Karolis Palubinskas. Denmark’s Jacob Brinck and Nicolai Houmann beat their comrades Kristoffer Abell and Christian Andersen, 21-16, 21-19.
Germany’s Phillip Huster and Sven Winter topped Pool C capped by a 21-17, 21-19 win over Australia’s Joshua Howat and Luke Ryan in the Challenge hosted by the City of Santa Rosa and backed by Medical City South Luzon and Jersey Haven.
Paul Pascaruic and Alexander Horst of Austria also had a two-game sweep of Pool D after turning down Piotr Kantor and Filip Lejawa of Poland, 21-18, 21-19, while Julian Friedli and Jonathan Jordan of Sweden emerged as No.1 in Pool E with a 21-14, 21-19 sweep of Ukraine’s Anton Moiseiev and Vitalii Savvin.