INQUIRER FILES
The little piece of trivia might have escaped everyone considering the groundbreaking championship that made a lot of noise in the PVL.
But it was enough to make sure that Akari’s finish in the All-Filipino conference would not be overlooked.
By finishing third, the Chargers became the lowest-seeded team to finish on the podium of the professional league.
Making it even more remarkable was that at the end of the preliminary round, the Chargers fell to No. 7, looked at a parade of powerful teams above them and decided they were going to end the tournament in the top four.
“That was the target,” said Akari coach Taka Minowa.
Minowa’s squad responded to that challenge and rose one step at a time to the top, riding on grit and talent.
“We showed our fighting spirit,” Minowa said. “We showed we deserved to be in the top four teams even if [we] came from rank seven.”
It was a redemption of sorts for the franchise, which harbored high expectations after a runner-up finish in the Reinforced Conference behind the sizzling performance of potent scorer Oly Okaro.
But that promise seemed to fizzle out after a string of underachieving defeats. And it took all that the Chargers could muster to fight their way back to relevance. They needed to piece themselves together after falling on the verge of falling apart.
“We shed tears and blood for this,” said star hitter Ivy Lacsina. “[Winning the bronze] was such a good feeling, especially after all our misunderstandings.”
They feel more together now.
And immediately after winning the bronze, Akari is picking up a vital lesson forged by the gold-winning Petro Gazz, which topped the conference by stunning the dynastic Creamline Cool Smashers.
“The goal now is to win gold,” Lacsina said. “So we’re not going to stop. We will rest a bit but return to the drawing board right away.”
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“We obviously have a lot of improvement. For sure, entering the conference, everyone wants to get in the championship. For sure, that’s usually a process to become a better team. Everything is a process,” Minowa added. —INQUIRER SPORTS STAFF
