RAN Abdilla and Lerry Francisco put on a show to the delight of the fans at the Nuvali Sand Courts.
Still, top-rated English pair Joaquin and Javier Bello proved too strong and scored a 21-9, 21-16 victory at the start of action in the main draw of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge Nuvali on Thursday in the City of Santa Rosa.
Coming off a huge victory in the BPT Elite 16 in Rio de Janeiro and instant fan favorites in Nuvali, the world No. 17 Bello twins played predictably dominant, almost certain to score when left with enough opening above the net.
But Alas Pilipinas did not simply roll over, Francisco tooling the block to earn crucial points and Abdilla setting up scoring chances with his powerful serves to get the crowd going.
The Philippines led 7-6 in the second set and although the Bellos quickly regained control, Abdilla and Francisco stayed within striking distance and fought until the final rally.
“It was a good experience and it was good that we were able to keep up with them,” said Abdilla. “But they’re the top team and it showed, they don’t seem to feel pressure. They play so relaxed.”
England punctuated the first-set win with an ace in the 14th minute and wrapped up the match in 33 minutes with a kill block.
“The Filipinos really pushed us and we had to try out best to win,” Joaquin said. “This win is important. We try to play every point like it was the final.”
Gen Eslapor and Kly Orillaneda also had a difficult opening match, losing to world No. 50 Ieva Dumbauskaite Ieva Vasiliauskaite of Lithuania, 21-12, 21-8, in the tournament hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.
The tough run continued for the hosts as James Buytrago and Rancel Varga, silver medalists in the BPT Futures Nuvali in April, lost 8-21, 29-31 to Mart Tiisaar and Dimitriy Korotkov of Estonia.
Abdilla and Francisco tries to bounce back when they battle Austria’s Christoph Dressler and Tim Berger, who lost, 15-21, 22-20, 8-15 in an an all-Austrian match against Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc.
Next up for Eslapor and Orillaneda are Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti of Finland, who bowed to Daniele Kvedaraite and Jekaterina Kovalskaja of Lithuania, 19-21, 17-21.
