Foton vs F2 Logistics PSL Finals comes down to Game 3

MANILA, Philippines – The FilOil Flying V Centre was a sea of yellow in the second game of the finals series of the Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference. Almost all of the fans wore F2 Logistics shirts and held yellow balloons. They screamed hysterically at every point won, and cheered at every beat of the drumline to bully the small patch of blue in the crowd.

The F2 Logistics Cargo Movers drew first blood in the series and even won the first set of the match. They saw championship coming that rainy Saturday afternoon of August 13 except that the Foton Tornadoes came back to life to spoil the hundreds of F2 fans who flocked the Arena despite the heavy rains.

Now with a deciding game 3 set for Wednesday, August 17 at 5 pm at FilOil in San Juan, Foton wants to capitalize on their momentum.

“Psychologically, alam nilang hindi pa tapos ito,” Foton Head Coach Vilet Ponce-De Leon said of her team. (Psychologically, they know that this is not yet over.)

“Parati ‘yang ang sinasabi namin sa kanila. ‘di naman hahaba ito kung hindi rin namin ginawa. Fault din namin kaya humaba. So walang pwedeng mag relax, walang pwedeng magsabi na lamang tayo. Wala. We just have to focus in game 3 and play our best,” she added.

(We always tell them that. This series wouldn’t be this long if not for our fault. Because of that, no one can relax, no one can say that we have the advantage. None. We just have to focus in game 3 and play our best.) 

De Leon couldn’t say which team has the advantage in game 3 of the title clash. According to her, both teams are strong and capable. However, the 

The Tornadoes came out on top of a 3-game series with Petron to win the Gran Prix in December, while the newcomer Cargo Movers are in their first PSL campaign.

“Bilog ang bola. Pareho kaming may mga advantages at disadvantages. So we will just prepare for game 3. We will watch the game again and again and again and see kung saan kami kailangan mag improve.”

(The ball is round. We both have advantages and disadvantages so we will just prepare for game 3. We will watch the game again and again and again and see where we need to improve.) 

Another key aside from mental toughness is knowing their strength and the opponents’ according to her.

“Alam naman naming na fight till the end ‘yong kalaban namin,” she said. (We know that they will fight until the end.)

Despite this, De Leon is focused on clinching the title. That is all she wants, that’s all her team wants. 

“We’re here. We’re going to prepare skill wise and team cohesion wise.” – Rappler.com