ALAS Pilipinas Men bowed out of the Asian Games group stage winless after falling to Chinese Taipei, 25-21, 20-25, 17-25, 27-29, in a non-bearing Pool D finale on Tuesday.
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The first three sets were tightly contested, but none more so than the fourth, where Chinese Taipei needed five match points to stave off a fifth-set decider before the Nationals finally closed it out.
Bryan Bagunas once again led Alas with 17 points, while breakout star Josh Magalaman delivered 16 on 11 attacks and five blocks. Leo Ordiales chipped in eight points.
Errors continued to plague the Nationals, who committed 26 miscues in the four-set loss. Alas previously conceded 23 errors against Korea and 28 against China, both in straight sets.
Low-stakes finish
Both teams were already out of medal contention by virtue of their winless records, with China and Korea securing the pool’s two quarterfinal berths at 2-0 before the final day of pool play.
That left the Philippines and Chinese Taipei simply battling for a breakthrough before dropping into the classification stage.
Chinese Taipei had pushed China to five sets before falling to Korea in four, while Alas was swept by both regional heavyweights. The Nationals thus finished last in Pool D at 0-3 and now turn their attention to the placement games.
Alas will look to open its win column there while also avoiding a finish below the Philippines’ record-low 13th place at the 2022 Asiad in China.
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