MANILA, Philippines — Dalawang korona ang sinikwat ng power duo na sina Shaunna Polley at Olivia Macdonald ng New Zealand sa loob ng dalawang Linggo nang magkampeon sa Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Nuvali matapos kalusin sina Sakura Ito at Mayu Sawame, 21-18, 21-14 ng Japan noong Mayo 4 sa Santa Rosa City, Laguna.
Nagreyna sa Asian Volleyball Confederation Beach Tour Phu Yen Open sa Vietnam nakaraan, muling sumiklab ang mga Kiwis para hablutin ang back-to-back championship matapos ang dalawang silver medal finishes, kasama ang AVC Beach Tour Nuvali nakaraang buwan.
“Happy to come back here and get the gold,” ani Polley. “We’re really glad, been playing consistently and to finish with two gold medals in the last two weeks is awesome.”
Kuminang din ang pambato ng Slovakia na sina Lubos Nemec at Adrian Petruf matapos sungkitin ang nail-biting men’s final kontra Eylon Elazar at Kevin Cuzmiciov, 21-15, 18-21, 19-17 ng Israel.
Pinayuko nina Elazar at Cuzmiciov ang pambato ng Pilipinas na sina James Buytrago at Rancel Varga sa quarterfinals sa tournament na inorganisa ng Philippine National Volleyball Federation sa pangunguna ni Ramon “Tats” Suzara na siya ring presidente ng Asian Volleyball Confederation at Executive Vice President ng world volleyball governing body FIVB.
Pinuri nina Polley at MacDonald ang magandang pagpapatakbo ng torneo sa Pilipinas, masaya silang nakapaglaro sa FIVB Volleyball World tournaments sa Pinas.
“The level is really high, you don’t know what to expect. We knew it was going to be tough and we met some very tough teams,” ani Polley.
Nakopo naman nina Ieva Dumbauskaite at Gerda Grudzinskaite ng Lithuania ang women’s bronze matapos ilista ang 21-19, 19-21, 19-17 panalo kontra Romanian netters Beata Vaida at Francesca Alupei.