Ilustre, Pascua compete in World GP beach volley

Fil-Ams Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua seek a follow-up to their breakthrough performance in the FIVB World Championships last month in Gstaad, Switzerland as they compete in the tough World Grand Prix Tour starting today in Klagenfurt, Austria.

Ilustre and Pascua surprised the fifth-seeded Australia in the elims on their way to the knockout round of 32 where they bowed to Kathrine Maaseide and Susanne Glesnes of Norway, 16-21, 13-21, to finish 17th overall.

That effort netted the Fil-Am duo $7,000 and 200 qualifying points to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Philippines is one of the 32 entries in the qualifiers with the top finishers joining 22 others who have made it to the main draw after securing enough points in the earlier legs in Germany, Paris, France and Norway and two wild cards from the host nation.

The Filipinos, bronze medalists in the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games, will proceed to Norway, Finland and Russia – all Open events. – Joey Villar