PH beats Singapore to win first-ever SEAG men’s beach volleyball medal

SUBIC, Zambales — The Philippine Men’s National Beach Volleyball team pulled all the stops and turned back Singapore, replicating the bronze medal finish of their female counterparts in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the converted Subic Tennis Court on Friday afternoon.

James Buytrago and Jaron Requinton put up a strong stand in the face of tough foe in Zi Hao Kingsley Tai and Fan Yang Shen to open the bronze medal series. But the youthful duo could not overcome the Singaporeans in the rubber set, yielding 22-20, 20-22, 7-15.

With backs against the wall, the Philippines leaned on Edmar Bonono and Jude Garcia. The pair of veterans belted Nicholas Kiu and Ray Meng Trevis Tan with a straight-set 21-14, 21-14 whipping and forced a winner-take-all match.

From there, the Philippines deployed Requinton and Garcia.

The high-leaping tandem fended off a blistering opening salvo from Singapore’s Kingsley Tai and Ray Meng Trevis Tan. They eventually walked away with a 25-23, 21-13 outcome en route to the podium.