Gilas 3X3 belles off to winning start in Sanya
SANYA—The Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 women on Saturday dug deep to trim Indonesia, 15-11, in Group C action for a winning start to its sixth Asian Beach Games campaign at Sanya Sports Centre Gymnasium.
Mikka Cacho scored five points, Tantoy Ferrer and Kaye Pingol had four each and Gabi Bade had a key long jumper at the crunch to finish with two points as the squad made do without star Kacey dela Rosa.
“We have a different line-up and we have different strengths, Cacho said in Filipino. “We have to change (our style) without Kacey because we are all of the same height, those left in the team.
“So we have to adjust our game, also our defense,” Cacho added.
The Filipinos cap off their group stage matches Monday when they face Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile, Sunnie Villapando and Grydelle Matibag showed no mercy and crushed Yekaterina Ryukhova and Kristina Karimova of Kazakhstan, 21-8, 21-8, to rise to 3-0 and reach the round of 16 of the women’s beach volleyball tourney at Tianya Haijiao Venue Cluster.
The duo of Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara also made short work of the Kazakh pair of Laura Kabulbekova and Nedezhda Ivanchenko, 21-17, 22-20 to also advance to the last 16.
In aquathlon, Team PH finished fifth in the mixed relay event after clocking one-hour, five minutes and 26 seconds.
Kim Remolino alongside Erika Burgos, Raven Alcoseba, and Inaki Emil Lorbes made up the team in the 2.5-kilometer run, one kilometer swim, and another 2.5km run tackled by each member.
Although they missed the podium, the squad showed heart and teamwork, especially during the grueling runs.
