Amigas, Vietnamese fight for Asian glory

MANILA, Philippines -- The fight for Asian supremacy in the 2026 Women’s Beach Handball World Championship is coming down to the Philippines-Vietnam showdown at the close of the six-day meet in Zagreb, Croatia Monday.

It’s the de facto Asian final as the Philippine handballers, dubbed the Amigas, and their Vietnamese counterparts slug it out for 11th place in the conclave among the giants of the sport – widely considered the second most popular team sport in Europe after football.

“We win it, and we’ll emerge the best Asian team,” said Philippine Handball Federation president Ernesto Jay Adalem.

Last time in Pingtan Island, China, the Vietnamese finished ninth overall and the best from the region, with the Amigas winding up 12th and the host Chinese at 14th.

Now in Zagreb, coach Joanna Franquelli’s team outperformed the Vietnamese in the group play. The Amigas, however, failed to progress further from the main round while the Vietnamese managed to make a run from the consolation pool.

They’ve found themselves pitted against each other in the final day of competition after the Philippines and Vietnam dropped shootouts against Uruguay and Norway, respectively, yesterday.

The final count was 23-16, 14-8, 5-2 in the Philippines’ loss to Uruguay. And it’s 32-16, 18-19, 7-6 in Vietnam’s heartbreaker against Norway.

Josephine Ong and Aurora Adriano carried much of the load for Team Philippines with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Zhalyn Mateo added eight and Shanina Mae Tapawan contributed six.