Competition to advance to the postseason (PS) of the PBA team league is heating up at the last minute. SK Rent-a-Car and Blue One Resort both won, tying for third in overall regular season performance.
The two teams jointly won in the fifth round of the “Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League 2023-24” held at KINTEX PBA Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday. SK Rent-a-Car and Blue One Resort beat High One Resort and Huons with set scores of four to one and four to two, respectively.
The two teams that added three points increased to tie for third (53 points) overall in the regular round. They were placed next to NH Nonghyup Card (83 points), which ranks first overall in the season, and Crown Haitai (80 points) which ranks second overall.
In this season’s team league, the five-round winners advance to the PS. However, if the winners overlap just like NH Nonghyup Card that won the first and third rounds, the PS teams will be determined based on the overall ranking of the season. While SY (Round 2) and Crown Haitai (Round 4) have confirmed their advance to the PS, the fifth round winner and the third place overall for the season are expected to fill the remaining two spots.
SK Rent-A-Car was evaluated as a potential winner but had no relationship with PS since the first season of the team league. It ranked seventh for the recent two consecutive seasons. Still, Blue One Resort topped the playoffs last season, but SK Rent-A-Car failed to advance to PS. 마카오카지노주소
SK Rent-A-Car lost the first set in a match against High1 Resort, but won all four sets to come from behind to win. Hida Aurier, the Japanese female three-cushion legend, led her team to victory by winning two doubles. Hida, who paired up with Kang Ji-eun in the women’s doubles in the second set, beat Lee Mi-rae and Yong Hyun-ji 9 to 5 (seven innings) in the second set, and in the fourth set, she played mixed doubles with Cho Sang-hwi, and beat Lim Sung-kyun and Yong Hyun-ji again 9 to 5 (six innings).
At Blue One Resort, Kang Min-koo and Thong Piabi of Cambodia secured set scores of two to six sets against the Huons. In men’s doubles in the fifth set, Kang crushed Javier Palajon of Spain 11 to 0 in just two innings with nine high runs. Thong also beat Jeon A-rin 9 to 1 in three innings.
Hana Card and Welcome Savings Bank are also tying for sixth this season with 52 points, and are holding onto their hope to advance to the PS. They are closely trailing SK Rent-A-Car and Blue One Resort with a single point.
Hana Card also lost to NH Nonghyup Card in a tight race of full sets on the day, but added one valuable point to rank second in the fifth round. It also has a chance to win the fifth round. Hana Card, however, has only two games left in the fifth round, which is slightly disadvantageous compared to the other three teams that have three more games to play.
On the 12th, a big match between Welcome Savings Bank and Hana Card is scheduled. The previous four rounds are against each other with two wins and two losses. The match between Crown Haitai and Huons, NH Nonghyup Card and High1 Resort, and Blue1 Resort and SK Rent-a-Car will follow. SY takes a rest.