RP spikers face Thais, Indons

CLARK, Pampanga – Talk of having your work cut out for you.

The Philippine sides seeing action in the first Clark Centennial Cup Asian Women’s beach volleyball championship drew the toughest foes for today’s opening, clashing with Thailand and Indonesia as the last great sports spectacle of the year kicks off at scenic Clearwater Country Club here.

Philippines 1, made up of Jennifer Bohawe and Sarah Faye Luna, collides with Indonesia 1 in the morning today, before mixing it up with the highly-rated Thailand 1 duo of Manatsanan Pangka and Rattanaporn Arlaisuk, the tandem ranked 18th in the world and the 1998 Bangkok Asiad gold medalists, in the afternoon.

Tournament format calls for the top two teams in each group to advance to the cross-over Final Four, with the No. 1 team from each group clashing with No. 2 for berths in the title game set Friday afternoon. The champion team goes home with $3,000.

Thailand 2, the Busan Asian Games fourth-placer, will be the foe of Philippines 2 this afternoon after the partnership of Cecille Tabuena and Helen Dosdos had slugged it out with the Japanese pair of Satoko Urata and Sanae Tsubakimoto.

The opening ceremonies of the tournament organized by the AYN Sports Management Group and backed by PAL, Gatorade, Speedo, Globe, Absolute, the Philippine Sports Commission and The STAR will be held at 3 p.m.

With the withdrawal of China and Hongkong, only eight teams are left in the field. Joining Philippines 1, Indonesia 1 and Thailand 1 is Vietnam and members of each group need to at least win two of their three assignments in the elimination phase to advance.

The Bohawe-Luna team of the Philippines will be coming off a respectable performance in the Hong Kong leg of this circuit held just last week and RP coach Roger Gorayeb is optimistic that at least one of the two local teams will advance.

"They have gained a lot of experience playing in the previous legs," Gorayeb said. "Our team is not wanting in talent and skill, inexperience in beach volleyball has actually hampered our development in the sport. But we played well in Hong Kong and that is a good sign."