MANILA, Philippines – In the land of the giants of Kazakhstan, Alas Pilipinas was reduced to mere dwarves.
Facing their toughest foes to date, the Filipinas crumbled and succumbed to the taller, more experienced Kazakhs, 25-23, 25-21, 25-14, Tuesday night that denied the hosts their golden chance in the AVC Women’s Challenge Cup to disappointment of raucous Filipino crowd that packed the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
It was the country’s first defeat after a fairy tale run in the group stages where the Philippines pulled off the nearly impossible and swept Pool A with four victories.
It also shut the door on Alas Pilipinas for a crack at a historic gold in an Asian-level tournament.
Instead, it will be Kazakhstan versus defending champion Vietnam, which smashed Australia, 27-25, 25-10, 25-10 earlier, in the gold medal duel set at 7 p.m.
If there’s any consolation, the Nationals could go for the bronze against the Aussies at 5 p.m. Wednesday, which would still be a feat in itself as it will be the former’s first podium finish in a long while.
Vietnam’s win was made more impressive by the fact that the many-time Southeast Asian Games silver medalist accomplished the feat with its unspoken leader, Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, or popularly called T4, just sitting and watching helplessly from the bench due to knee issues.
In her stead was Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen, who continued to wreak havoc by uncorking 24 points, including 21 on kills as Vietnam, which swept Pool B in four matches, punched its finals ticket.
Earlier, India dumped Indonesia, 25-16, 30-32, 25-20, 27-25, and Iran trounced Hong Kong, 26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 25-19, to arrange a battle for fifth place.
Indonesia and Hong Kong will face off for No. 7.