SUBIC - A crestfallen Edmar Bonono sat on the stool alone, staring blankly at the sandcourt where their gold medal hopes were dashed.
Bonono and the rest of the men's beach volleyball team succumbed to Thailand, 0-2, on Thursday at the converted Subic Tennis Court.
Bonono was almost inconsolable. Thanks to the birthday cake from his teammates, the 28-year-old volleyball player appreciated the gesture and finally flashed a smile.
"I'm happy because I thought I would not be able to celebrate my birthday today since we're focused on the game. I was really touched," said Bonono, who was also surprised with a birthday song, in Filipino.
The loss wasn't the birthday gift he envisioned, but the former Perpetual stalwart is still hopeful team Philippines will still snatch the bronze medal tomorrow against Singapore.
"We want to win the bronze tomorrow. It's better to win tomorrow than place fourth," he said.
Bonono and partner Jude Garcia of Philippines 2 put up a gallant stand against the fancied Thais, but the latter just proved to be too much.
Nuttanon Inkiew and Sedtawat Padsawud battered Philippines 2 from almost all angles on the way to the 21-17, 21-19 victory.
In the opening game, Thailand 1 had to go through a road road to down the Filipino duo of James Buytrago and Jaron Requinton, 21-19, 23-21.
Buytrago and Requinton could have forced a deciding set, but the two committed back-to-back errors which spelled doom for the first team.
In the other semifinal pairing, Indonesia also blanks Singapore to set up the gold medal match against Thailand.
The Philippines will face Singapore for the bronze medal at 1 p.m. on Friday.
"We will just rest today so that we will be really prepared for tomorrow's game," said Bonono.