Bagunas leads Alas Men past Uzbekistan for first Asian Games win

Alas Pilipinas Men finally snatched one win at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in Japan.

This, as the World No. 92 men’s volleyball squad drubbed lower-ranked Uzbekistan, 25-19, 25-15, 23-25, 25-17, in the classification round on Friday at Park Arena Komaki, coming from successive losses since in the preliminaries and an Indonesia loss just yesterday.

Team captain Bryan Bagunas showed the way by firing 26 points on 25 attacks and one service ace.

Despite a third-set lapse, the Filipino spikers regrouped in the final frame and never looked back, turning a one-point 13-12 lead into a 19-12 cushion off six straight points built on kills from Bagunas, Owa Retamar, and Peng Taguibolos, coupled by Uzbek errors.

In the third frame, Alas Men almost pulled off a comeback against the World No. 112, making a 24-20 Uzbek edge into a 24-23 count, but a Buds Buddin attack error ultimately handed the opposing side a set win.

Joshua Magalaman was also there for the winning cause, asserting his will on the net by tallying six blocks en route to a 13-point total, while Taguibolos chipped in 11 markers on six attacks, three rejections, and two conversions from the service line.

The Philippines will now face Kyrgyzstan for the 13th place on Saturday.