AVC Women’s Volleyball Championship: China clobbers Fibr-PH, Power Pinays battle Sri Lanka and Myanmar in classification phase
The injury to Fibr-Philippines Team Captain Angge Tabaquero was so debilitating that she was forced to sit out the Power Pinays’ final preliminary round match against defending titlists China in the ongoing Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship at the main venue Chatchai Hall in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat City), Thailand.
China outclassed the re-emerging Filipinas, 25-9, 25-10, 25-8 to finish its prelims assignments unscathed and move on to the quarterfinal round. The Philippines end up winless in its three matches and will see action in the classification stages of the biennial meet, which also serves as a qualifier for the 2014 FIVB World Championships in Italy.
“She really wanted to play because it’s against China and she wanted to experience that,” team physician Raul Alcantara told Philippine Volleyball Federation media man Mark Dionisio, in the vernacular, after the Power Pinays’ loss. “But we didn’t want to risk it, we didn’t want it to get worse.”
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The Philippines—presently the sixteenth-ranked nation in Asian women’s volleyball—were already destined for relegation after dropping a straight-sets contest against India and a four-set heartbreaker against Iran—the match where Tabaquero suffered that major sprain.
China’s 18-year-old wunderkind Zhu Ting led the onslaught with 19 points, while skipper Hui Ruoqi chipped-in twelve and Zeng Chunlei added ten. The Power Pinays only had one double-digit performer in veteran Aiza Maizo-Pontillas who came away with ten markers.
The Power Pinays were much smaller than their Chinese opponents, so much so that the nationals failed to register a single block point, while China got four of their ten block points from Zhu alone. The Philippines were also forced into committing sixteen errors against a mere four from China. The second-ranked team in Asia also collected eight points off of their service—three from Zhu—while the Philippines only got one ace from Maizo-Pontillas. It was indeed a game that the Power Pinays gained a lot of knowledge from, but surprisingly it was the Chinese that claimed to learn a lot from the “short” Filipinas.
“They are pretty short (but) there (were) some irregular balls, drop balls (executed by the Philippines). We don’t have that. We’re learning (from the Filipinas),” Chinese Head Coach Lang Ping said. “Their passing was (also) really good."
Lang also noted the cheery disposition the Power Pinays displayed while on the floor.
“They are happy when they are playing,” she noted. "In time, they will improve."
Fibr-Philippines Head Coach Nes Pamilar continued praising the efforts of the nationals, especially his trooper of a skipper Tabaquero.
“She felt bad that she couldn’t play,” Pamilar told Dionisio in Tagalog. “She really wanted to help the team, but I told her she’d be more of a help if she recovers quickly.
“Despite the injuries, if we can get our starting six together, these girls can go very far. If you know anything about volleyball, you’ll know that this team has great potential.”
The Power Pinays take on Sri Lanka—today (September 16th) at 7:00PM, Manila time—before the all important clash against Southeast Asian neighbour Myanmar—which could be the make or break tiff for the Philippines being “reconsidered” for the upcoming SEA Games—on Tuesday, September 17th. They take a breather on Wednesday, September 18th, and let’s see if we can squeeze a few interviews out of them then.
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We may be out of the running to win the crown in this edition of the AVC tilt, but the lessons picked up will be quite valuable moving forward. The classification stage is a whole new ballgame so let’s continue our unconditional and unwavering support for our Power Pinays. They are laying the foundation for future medallists so their pioneering efforts are necessary for our country’s progress in the sport.
Send them your messages of support, guys. The war isn’t over. The quest has only begun.
BOXSCORES:
China (3-0) def. Philippines (0-3)
CHN—Zhu 19, Hui 12, Zeng 10, Xu 7, Ma 5, Shen 4, Yang 2, Yin (L) 0.
PHI—Maizo-Pontillas 10, Tubino 4, Saet 2, Gendrauli 2, Benito 1, Eulalio 1, Gata-Pantone (L) 0, Soriano 0, Datuin 0.
Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com
