Petron eyes PSL semis vs Meralco

Games today

4 p.m. – Philips Gold vs Foton

6 p.m. – Petron vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines - Petron shoots for the first semifinal seat as it clashes with winless Meralco while Philips Gold and Foton try to firm up their Final Four drive in the 2015 Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix today at The Arena in San Juan.

The Blaze Spikers are heavily fancied to get past the Meralco side and formalize their entry to the next round in the 6 p.m. main dish while the 4-1 Lady Slammers zero in on the other semis seat against the 3-3 Tornadoes in the 4 p.m. opener.

After dropping its opening game to Cignal, Philips Gold swept its next four matches behind American imports Bojana Todorovic and Alexis Olgard.

Petron and erstwhile leader Cignal share second at 5-2 while surging Foton is at fourth spot following a pair of impressive straight-set victories over RC Cola-Air Force and Cignal, respectively, last week.

But focus will be on the Blaze Spikers, the reigning Grand Prix champions who became the first team to sweep the All-Filipino Conference of the club tourney presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Senoh, Mueller and Mikasa as technical partners and TV5 as official broadcaster.

Despite parading a rock-solid roster of Aby Marano, Rachel Anne Daquis, Dindin Manabat, Ces Molina and Jen Reyes with Brazilian imports Rupia Inck and Erica Adachi at the helm, Petron struggled in the early going and bowed to Cignal last Oct. 10 and to Philips Gold last Oct. 17.