Alas Women fall to Kazakhs, out of medal race

NAGOYA, Japan, September 18 ------ Like Gilas Pilipinas, Alas Pilipinas Women will go home empty-handed – again. Though they managed to pull off a great escape in the opening set, the Nationals failed to sustain the momentum in the next two frames, eventually absorbing a 29-27, 24-26, 23-25,19-25 loss to Kazakhstan at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 at the Okazaki Sogo Park.

The defeat was very painful for the star-studded Alas squad as it arrived here looking ready and confident to match the 8th place-finish by the 2018 team during the Jakarta Games. It was the second straight defeat by Alas in Group B elims after losing to China, 18-25, 22-25, 8-25, on the opening day on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The loss was frustrating, especially for La Salle star Angel Canino, who put on another stellar performance with 24. Alyssa Solomon also rose to the occasion with 20 points. However, their efforts went for naught. Now, they will be battling it out in the classification phase, with the Kazakhs joining defending champion China in the knockout round where the last placer is assured of an eighth-place.

Gilas was the first squad to be eliminated after losing by 44 points to Mighty China. Everything evaporated into thin air after a gallant comeback in the first set that saw them erase an 14-18 deficit much to the delight of a motley crowd of Filipino fans. They, along with some locals, went wild when Alas completed their stirring turnaround. But disaster struck the team in the second set. They rallied from a 7-point deficit twice – the last time was at 15-22 – and roared back mightily to tie the count at 24-all.

Unfortunately, they never reached the finish line. It happened again in the third frame, where they knotted the score twice – the last at 23-all. But it proved to be their last gallant stand – no thanks to opposite hitter Tatyana Nikitina’s brilliance.

Nikitina tallied 19 points to lead three other teammates finished in double figures.

In the other game, South Korea downed a hapless Qatar squad, 25-6, 25-6, 25-16, to likewise advance to the next round with a 2-0 mark.

Source: mb.com.ph