The Alas Pilipinas Boys are still in contention in the 2026 AVC Boys’ Under-18 Championship after a 25-22, 13-25, 25-23, 25-14 triumph over Bahrain on Monday, July 13, at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.
The result gave them a 1-1 win-loss record in Pool B, tied with India.
Only the top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the next round.
“I told the boys that we need this win for us to improve our chances [of making it to the next round],” Alas head coach Oliver Balse said. “Next up is India, and we want to give our all.”
“They showed more confidence compared to our first outing,” he said.
“I’m happy with how they performed. The team is more focused, and you can tell that they really want to win — especially on how they fought in the third set.”
The Philippines lost to Iran, 17-25, 20-25, 13-25, in its first assignment in the tournament last Saturday, July 11.
After dropping the second set, the Alas Boys showed their grit in the third frame, where they broke away from a 16-all deadlock behind the tandem of Terrence Marticion and Raphael Galapin.
The Philippines surged to a 22-20 lead, and benefited from back-to-back errors by Bahrain to reach set point, 24-20. Bahrain reeled off three straight points to close in, but committed a net violation to gift the final point to the Alas Boys.
The Philippines went on to win comfortably in the fourth. (ABS-CBN News)