THE travelling beach volleyball tournament Beach Volleyball Republic on Tour hits Surigao del Sur this weekend for the Gran Ola, Lianga leg.

The fifth stop of the tour this year, the Lianga leg will see top beach volleyball teams and players, including American Olympian David McKenzie, strut their stuff for the two-day event starting on Saturday, Aug. 31.

Mr. McKienzie, an all-American playing for California State University, Long Beach, is due to arrive in the country today and expressed excitement over competing against a stacked field of players, including from national team preparing for the 30th Southeast Asian Games, as well as standouts from club and collegiate teams at the Gran Ola Eco Surf Camp sand court.

“I haven’t played a tournament since September 2018, so very excited to play again. It will be nice to experience another part of Philippines,” said Mr. McKienzie. Also expected to see action in the leg are sand court veterans Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons, who gave the Philippines a quarterfinals finish in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open last May.

They are using the event as part of their preparation will for the SEA Games which the country is hosting later this year.

In the same Lianga event last year, Thailand 2’s Nasuda Janmong and Saranya Laesood bested BanKo-Perlas 1’s Dzi Gervacio and Bea Tan in the women’s division, while another international pair, Austria-Norway tandem of Marian Klaffinger and Aleksander Sorum, ruled the men’s division, beating Air Force’s Ranran Abdilla and Jessie Lopez. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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