Blancada was the only Filipino standing after clearing the fourth repechage with the hopes of snatching a qualifying slot in Olympic Asia.

However, the two waves she rode on gave her a score of 5.23 and 4.23 for a total of 9.46 and from thereon was not able to find another good wave to retaliate.

“Nilbie had a great heat. She led all throughout, until Sally Fitzgibbons, an Olympic bet and already qualified, got a 6.1 and moved Nilbie to no. 2. Another surfer got the priority on the final wave,” said national coach Ian Saguan in a message to the Manila Standard.

Meanwhile, John Mark Tokong landed in fourth place with 5.2 points at the end of Heat 4 in the fourth repechage.

But head coach Adam Dufner is still optimistic about the results as he posted in his Instagram story.

“You tried your best, a hundred percent, you gave everything you got,” he stated following the fight of Blancada.

“From this point we move forward. This is just the beginning. This team’s going to keep growing and growing. Let’s feel the emotion now, and then we digest it, let it go, and then we move up and keep going forward.”