Alas Pilipinas endured a tough start in the Volleyball World 2025 Beach Pro Tour Challenge as all four competing pairs dropped their opening matches on Thursday, October 16, at the Nuvali Sands Court by Ayala Land in Santa Rosa, Laguna, forcing them into must-win situations in their remaining pool assignments.

James Buytrago and Ran Abdilla opened the day under scorching conditions but couldn’t overcome the height and precision of Australians D’Artagnan Potts and Jack Pearse, absorbing a 14-21, 18-21 loss in Pool H. The defeats continued in the afternoon session as Kly Orillaneda and Gen Eslapor fell to Finland’s Anniina Parkkinin and Vilhelmiina Prihti, 11-21, 15-21, also in Pool H. In Pool D, Sonny Villapando and Dij Rodriguez came up short against New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley and Olivia MacDonald, 19-21, 14-21.

Rondina-Pons fall to Brazilian duo

The country’s top-ranked tandem of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons faced a stern test against world No. 72 Thainara Mylena Feitosa de Oliveira and Talita Simonetti of Brazil. Despite a spirited effort, the Filipinas fell, 17-21, 16-21, in Pool G play. Ranked No. 137 globally, Rondina and Pons were unable to match the Brazilians’ mid-game adjustments, which turned the match in the latter’s favor.

“This is our first time in the Challenge, and we learned a lot of new things, but we’re not out yet,” Rondina said. “We’re grateful we played them—they’ve been playing the sport for so long.”

Brazilian coach Joao “Kioday” Luciano Simao Barbosa noted, “We played against a great Brazilian team that can adjust in any situation. They changed the complexion of the game, and we couldn’t. We must learn from this.”

You May Also Like: Alas Pilipinas falls to Australia in Beach Pro Tour Challenge opener

Filipinas eye bounce-back on Day 2

Alas Pilipinas can still advance by winning their next matches and faring well in potential tiebreak scenarios. Rondina and Pons are set to face Slovenia’s Ziva Javornik and Tajda Lovsin, ranked No. 78, whom they defeated in a Futures tournament in Budapest last month.

Villapando and Rodriguez will battle Japan’s Sakura Ito and Mayu Sawame, while Eslapor and Orillaneda will take on Americans Teegan Van Gunst and Piper Ferch. Buytrago and Abdilla, meanwhile, faced Tim Brewster and Ryan Lerna of the United States later Thursday in their fight to stay alive.