After their campaign in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, Alas Pilipinas now aim for gold in the SEA Games 2025 in Thailand.
BANGKOK – All eyes will be on the Alas Pilipinas Men as they head into the Southeast Asian Games 2025 with renewed experience, thanks to their campaign at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in Manila earlier this year.
Despite falling short of the knockout rounds, the Alas Men showed tremendous potential, beating Egypt and almost downing Iran in a heart-stopping five-setter.
Now eyeing a return to the podium since a silver medal campaign in the 2019 SEA Games also in Manila, the Filipino spikers are focused on creating history anew – with the gold finish in their sights.
Veteran setter Owa Retamar, who was part of both squads in 2019 and in the World Championships, said that although the team is aware of the rising hopes for the team to get the gold, they’re staying grounded.
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“Yes, mataas ang expectations pero focus lang kami sa team namin, kung ano ang gagawin namin bawat game, sa bawat team na makakalaban namin," said Retamar during the Alas Pilipinas sendoff on Saturday.
Retamar further added that they need to do the dirty work if they want the finish everyone expects of them. At the end of the day, nothing is getting served on a silver platter.
“Napag-usapan na rin namin 'yan. Kinausap din kami ni [Coach Angiolino Frigoni], sinabi nya nga sa amin na maraming tao ang nagi-expect na automatic gold tayo but nasa amin pa rin yun,” said the setter.
“[Depende] kung paano kami magwu-work as a team, yung communication namin inside the court and ano pa ba yung pwede naming i-training para kung ma-scout kami ng ibang teams may iba kaming tina-try,” he added.
Alas Pilipinas will test their mettle in the group stage against teams like Indonesia and Myanmar. With Cambodia pulling out over geopolitical tensions, the Philippines will just need to avoid a last place finish to move on to the semifinals.
“Yung bracket namin, malakas yung mga country na kasama. Nandoon pa ang Cambodia but I think 'di na ata maglalaro. Swerte pa rin kami sa bracket na yun kasi nabawasan ng isang malakas na team," said Retamar.
“Kung ano man yung makakalaban namin na una doon muna kami magfo-focus hanggang sa sunud-sunod sa kung ano man ang sunod naming makakalaban.”
Deep in preparation
Regardless of how things pan out from here on, Retamar said that the Alas men have been pulling out all the stops to put their best foot forward in Bangkok.
Falling painstakingly short of history in the World Championships, they now vie for redemption in a more local stage. With the men’s program never finishing better than silver, Alas Pilipinas will be looking to tweak the little things.
Having wrapped up a training camp in Taiwan, the Alas men are seeking to peak at just the right time.
“Ang ipinokus namin dun is syempre yung consistency and yung itinuturo pa rin niya sa amin yung paano namin mag-solve ng problem sa loob ng court. Like yung pagdumadating na bad receive kami, tas set laging nasa third ball kung paano i-solve ang problema,” he said.
Alas Men will have a few more days to prepare for their first game here, facing Myanmar in their opening game on Saturday, December 13, at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
(With reports from Mei-lin Lozada/One Sports Digital)
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.