The Philippines hit a dead end after falling short against a more disciplined Bahrain side, 20-25, 17-25, 23-25, in the Final 12 of the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup for Men Wednesday morning at the University of Taipei Hall in Taiwan.
Despite a gallant stand, costly errors especially in the closing stretch did the Filipinos in as the Nationals saw their quarterfinal bid go down the drain.
Bahrain, which is 23 ranks lower than the Philippines in the latest FIVB rankings, was the more active team in the quick match and easily punched a ticket into the next round.
The Nationals were relegated to the classification round for 7th to 12th in the tournament that stakes a spot to the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in Qatar slated 27 to 30 July.
The Filipinos looked poised to recover after yielding the first two sets as they took a 13-11 lead off an ace by setter Vince Mangulabnan.
Rex Intal gave the Nationals a 15-13 lead with a quick kill but Bahrain countered with a 7-1 blitz to pull away, 20-16.
Bahrain moved at match point, 24-21, but Marck Espejo sparked a mini rally to save two match points only for the Philippines to get bitten back by another miscue when Ryan Ka smashed an off-timed spike attempt straight to the net.
Bahrain dominated the Nationals in the first two sets, dismantling the defense of the Filipinos, who went cold on offense following a one-day break after sweeping Pool D in the elimination round.
The Philippines will face the Final 12 loser between Australia and Macau today to start the classification phase.
The winner of the Australia-Macau tussle will battle Bahrain in the quarterfinal.
