ALAS Pilipinas Men lost in straight sets to Asian powerhouse Thailand, 26-28, 14-25, 16-25, but still emerged with a bronze medal from Leg 1 of the 2024 SEA V.League on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The hosts struggled to keep up with the Thais while playing without their best player, consoling themselves with their irst medal in the international stage since its historic runner-up finish, also on home soil, in 2019 at the Southeast Asian Games.
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It was a tall order for the nationals to begin with to try and dent Thailand’s two-game win run without Bryan Bagunas, who suffered an apparent knee injury in their first loss of the tournament to Vietnam.
But even before Alas played its home leg finale, it was already assured of a podium finish following Indonesia’s five-set win over Vietnam and could’ve bagged silver if they were to defeat the Thais.
Taking over from such a huge void left by the ailing Alas skipper were first-time starter Noel Kampton, Leo Ordiales and a red-hot Michaelo Buddin who has backed Bagunas’ lethal scoring exploits in their first two matches.
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