‘siPons’ tandem gets needed exposure ahead of sea Games

THE Philippines’s biggest medal hopes in the 30th Southeast Asian Games—Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons—hope to make a huge impact in the Rebisco Beach Volleyball International Open which starts Friday at the Sands at SM By The Bay.

Twenty teams will compete in doublegender tournament presented by Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc. in cooperation with Beach Volleyball Republic.

Games will start at 7:30 a.m. and admission is free.

“It’s for the experience and preparation for the Southeast Asian Games. We are very excited,” said Rondina, a four-time University Athletic Association of the Philippines champion for University of Santo Tomas.

Pons, who paired with Rondina in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 1-Star last May in Boracay, knows that the three-day spikefest will help them to improve their skills in the SEA Games.

“We need this exposure because of the presence of foreign teams,” Pons said.

The pair has started training last September with Rondina and Pons focusing on their endurance and chemistry.

“Everyone knows how the ‘SiPons’ tandem works so we will do our best,” Rondina said.

The other Philippine women’s pair in the SEA Games set on November 29 at the Subic Tennis Courts is Dzi Gervacio and Dij Rodriguez.

Among the top international women’s teams to watch out in the tournament supported by Rebisco and backed by Liberty Insurance, Glorious Blend Coffee and Globe Telecom are Thailand’s Parawun Chanthawchai and Mukdao Suchamong, and Paweena Wongaksorn and Duanpen Arsa, and New Zealand’s Renei Ursem and Olivia MacDonald.

Other Filipinas competing are rising stars Babylove Barbon and Gen Eslapor of reigning UAAP champion University of Santo Tomas, and sand court veterans DM Demontaño and Jackie Estoquia of Sta. Lucia.