SATONO Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba made short work of Sakurako Fujii and Minori Kumada, 21-14, 21-18 to capture the gold medal in an all-Japan finale in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open presented by Globe at the White House Beach Station 1.
Shiba capped their unbeaten run with Ishitsubo in the four-day tournament organized by the Beach Volleyball Tournament with a drop shot to foil Fujii and Kumada’s bid to extend the match.
Chalking up their second career victory, Shiba and Ishitsubo displayed their superior skills on offense and defense that made them No. 86 in the world in front of a packed Sunday crowd that filled the beachfront in this island resort’s first sporting event since last October’s reopening.
Narongdet Kangkon and Banlue Nakprakhong of Thailand took the men’s gold by topping Japanese qualifier Yuya Ageba and Nobuaki Taira, 19-21, 22-20, 15-8.
The Thais rallied in the second set after their opponents first reached championship point to force a decider which they dominated.
In the semifinals, Japan assured of winning a second consecutive Beach World Tour women’s gold in the Philippines as Ishitsubo and Shiba swept Brittany Kendall and Stefanie Weiler of Australia, 21-16, 21-17, and Sakurako and Kumada topped Tjasa Jancar and Tjasa Kotnik of Slovenia, 21-15, 18-21, 19-17.
Kendall and Weiler nipped Jancar and Kotnik, 24-26, 21-13, 15-13, to claim third place.
The Philippines matched its fifth place finish in the Manila Open last year behind Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons. The country has shown improvement in the Beach World Tour. (PR)