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MANILA -- Choco Mucho setter Deanna Wong will not be joining the Philippine national team when it competes at the Hanoi Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May.

Philippine team head coach Jorge Souza de Brito confirmed the non-inclusion of Wong on Tuesday, before the team departs to Brazil for a training camp.

According to the Brazilian coach, Wong suffered an injury during the Flying Titans' campaign in the recently concluded Premier Volleyball League (PVL).

"She will not join us in Brazil because she injured her shin. There’s a lot of pain. She played a lot of times here in the PVL but feeling pain. We have to keep her out of this training proper, these matches," Souza de Brito said.

Creamline Cool Smashers' backup setter Kyle Negrito will be replacing Wong in the 16-man lineup bound for Vietnam.

National team head coach Jorge Souza de Brito talks about Deanna Wong's injury pic.twitter.com/3VHnzc0ZNM

— Dyan Castillejo (@DYANCASTILLEJO) April 12, 2022

"The replacement will be Kyle Negrito. I already talked to her when I heard about [Wong]. I called first Deanna and after I talked to the manager of Creamline to request her to come and even to the coach also. And they said okay, so she’s joining us," the coach explained.

Souza de Brito admitted that it was a tough decision to let go of Wong but acknowledged the need for the athlete to recuperate.

"She has to recover first. I know how hard it is. It’s a tough decision even for me but she’s okay with it. She knows she is a good player but she has to recover," he said.

The foreign tactician is still hoping Wong can suit up for the national team in the future.

"But looking forward in the future because she has to be okay to move forward and play good as she’s doing until now. But she has to recover first, so she’ll stay."