Phl beach spikers face bright future

Filipino beach volleyball players are facing brighter future following their historic bronze medal women’s division of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya last week.

Alas Pilipinas coach Joao Luciano Kioday said he sees the potential of Filipino beach spikers after Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara emerged with a bronze medal in the prestigious continental showpiece.

After going undefeated in the preliminaries, Progella and Pagara recovered from a semifinal loss to Thailand by rallying past China’s Cao Shuting and Dong Jie, 13-21, 23-21, 15-13, to seal their podium finish on Friday at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court.

“This is beach volleyball, right? So, when you have the opportunity, you need to take it. We try to believe that when we have the opportunity this time, we're going to take it. And that's what we did,” Kioday said after leading the Filipinas to their first Asian Games medal since the sport was introduced in the Hiroshima edition of the Asiad in 1994.

“I think Khy and Sofiah are super talented, but they proved that they have a good heart, a big heart for the game.”

Kioday was particularly impressed by how the Filipinas responded when the pressure was at its highest.