Petron, Philips duel for No. 1

Games today (The Arena, San Juan) 4 p.m. – Philips Gold vs Petron 6 p.m. – Cignal vs Meralco

Leaders Petron and Philips Gold dispute the top spot in the semifinals when the double-round eliminations of the 2015 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix formally comes to a close today at The Arena in San Juan.

Game time is at 4 p.m. followed by the equally crucial clash between Cignal and Meralco in the 6 p.m. offering of the women’s inter-club tourney presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Senoh, Mikasa and Mueller as technical sponsors and TV5 as official broadcaster.

Fresh from a straight-set demolition of rival Foton over the weekend, the Blaze Spikers are tagged as the hottest team after blazing their way to five straight victories to occupy the ceiling with a 7-2 win-loss mark.

But the reigning champion is not alone at the top as Philips Gold is also smoking hot after booking a pair of straight-set wins over Meralco and Cignal recently, making their encounter not only entertaining for being the duel between two of the league’s best teams, but also highly crucial as it determines who will assume the top spot in the do-or-die semifinals next week.

“This is going to be a very important game for both teams,” said Petron coach George Pascua. “Although it doesn’t really matter who will be the No. 1 or No. 2 in the semis, both of us want to win to gain enough momentum for the semis. This game should serve as our springboard for tough battles ahead.”

Philips Gold coach Francis Vicente agrees.

“As much as possible, we want to avoid Petron in the semis due to their depth and experience,” he said. “But since we are going to face them in the last day of eliminations, we are planning to go all out to create a mental note that Petron is also beatable.”