Asiad: Alas Men succumb to Indonesia in 4

Alas Pilipinas Men succumbed to Indonesia in four sets, 23-25, 26-24, 22-25, 21-25, in the classification round of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, Thursday at Park Arena Komaki.

The Filipino spikers proved they can go toe-to-toe with our Southeast Asian neighbors, as they even snatched a set in the extended second frame.

After Boy Arabi put Indonesia at set point, 24-23, Joshua Magalaman found the sharp kill to the tie the count, Owa Retamar nailed the block on the Indonesian spiker, and Marck Espejo nailed the set-clinching ace on Fauzan Nibras’s hands, to tie at 1-1, 26-24.

The Philippines could not, however, sustain the momentum heading into the succeeding frames.

As Fahri Septian Putratama put Indonesia on set point in the third period, 24-21, his compatriot Muhammad Malizi suffered a service error that kept Philippines in the hunt. Thankfully for their side, Fauzan Nibras was there for the attack on Buds Buddin’s defense for a 2-1 set lead.

A tie match at 15-apiece in the final period, the Indonesians broke away with a quick 5-1 run to establish their distance from the Filipinos, installing a 20-16 gap.

The Filipinos could not recover from there, as Putratama blocked Lirick Mendoza for the closer, ending the match that lasted for almost two hours.

Arabi led the winning cause with 20 points, while it was Leo Ordiales who top-scored for Alas Men with 13 points on 11 attacks and two aces. Espejo and Buddin contributed 11 points each, as they shift their focus to Uzbekistan for another bout in the classifications.