Jayrack De La Noche and Alexander Iraya of the Philippines put up a gallant stand in a 15-21, 19-21 defeat to Narakorn Chumaphai and Veerayut Sopati of Thailand in the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships on Tuesday (Dec. 7) in Phuket, Thailand.
The Negrense pair was able to save two match points, the last an Iraya service ace, to cut the Thais’ lead to 19-20. But Iraya’s serve went wide in the next rally, allowing the Thais, fourth placers in the Third Asian U19 Championships in Nakhon Pathom last July, to escape with the straight-set win in Pool H.
De La Noche and Iraya seek to bounce back against Australia’s Jack Pearse and Lucas Josefsen at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 8).
The Filipinos will wrap up their pool play stint against Estonia’s Karmo Saviauk and Kaur Erik Kais on Thursday (Dec. 9).
De La Noche and Iraya are vying in their third international competition.
The University of Santo Tomas standouts made their debut last July in the Asian U19 and U21 Championships in Nakhon Pathom.
De La Noche and Iraya, ranked No. 351 in the FIVB men’s world rankings, made a historic run to the quarterfinals of the Fourth Asian U21 Championships.
There are 32 teams in the main draw which consists of eight pools. The top three teams in each pool will advance to the Round of 24. A total of 72 teams (36 men and 36 women) from 31 countries are competing in the tournament that ends Saturday (Dec. 11). (PNVF) – bny
