MANILA – Filipino pair Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons suffered a 19-21, 17-21 loss to Denmark’s Sofia Bisgaard and Cirkeline Hog on Thursday, May 21, 2026, in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali Challenge at the Nuvali Sands Courts in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Rondina and Pons, who won a historic Southeast Asian Games gold medal last year, were sent to the losers’ bracket in the event organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), headed by Tonyboy Liao.
“It was still a good game for us. I only had almost three weeks of training while Pons had around two weeks, but despite that, we were still able to keep up somehow,” said Rondina, who scored 13 points. “Our opponents also regularly compete in Elite 16 tournaments, so they’re really high-level teams. But we’re not making excuses because we still gave our best. They just played the better game today,” she added.
The Alas pair will face Switzerland’s Annique Niederhauser and Menia Bentele, who knocked them out in last year’s Challenge in the round of 24, 18-21, 24-22, 15-12.
“We’re still looking at the positive side even though we lost. We fought hard, we just fell short this time. I know we still need to polish our partnership again. Like coach said, our game wasn’t bad overall, but we gave away too many unforced errors,” said Pons, who had 12 points. “Aside from the preparation, coach also reminded us that our heart for the game should always be there. That’s going to be our biggest weapon heading into our next game tonight because it’s already a do-or-die match. At this level of beach volleyball, you really can’t afford to give away too many errors because your opponents are already very experienced and constantly competing around the world,” she added.
Bisgaard and Hog will face Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil, who prevailed over the Swiss pair of Niederhauser and Bentele, 20-22, 21-13, 15-11.
Meanwhile, former NBA player Chase Budinger and new partner Trevor Crabb defeated Canada’s Luke de Greeff and Tynan Gannett, 21-9, 21-13, in the men’s division of the tournament, also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Rebisco, Akari, Ayala Land, and PLDT.
The 37-year-old Budinger played in the NBA from 2009 to 2016 before joining the World Tour, where he won a gold medal at the 2023 Haikou Challenge in China. “It’s great. I’ve been here once during the Olympic run. I love the tournament, it was amazing so I was happy to be able to come back again. I love how the people are really nice, the accommodations amazing so I love playing here. Maybe I wish it wasn’t so hot, but besides that, everything’s great,” said Budinger, who is eyeing an Olympic run in Los Angeles 2028 with Crabb. “It’s a stepping stone. First tournament for us. Just to get to know each other and get the feel of playing with each other. We haven’t had many practices together so we’re kinda learning on the fly and this is a great tournament for us to do that,” he added.
Other first-round winners were Paris 2024 Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte of Lithuania over wildcards Marie-Alex Belanger and Amy Ozee of Canada, 21-18, 20-22, 15-12; and men’s top seeds Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov of Israel over Denmark’s Kristoffer Abell and Christian Andersen, 21-14, 21-15. / PNA
