Gold hunters
We will fight until the end. We will do everything to win the crown in front of our countrymen
National team head coach Dante Alinsunurin has yet to be born the last time the Philippines played in the finals of the men’s volleyball event of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
But on Tuesday, history would be made as the national squad battles Indonesia in the gold-medal match of the 30th SEA Games at the Philsports Arena.
Game time is at 6 p.m. with the Nationals marching to war overflowing with confidence after bringing down eight-time champion Thailand in nailbiting fashion.
Bryan Bagunas spearheaded the attack while Marck Espejo provided some significant contributions to the Philippine side, which is advancing to the finals of the biennial meet for the first time since the 1977 edition in Kuala Lumpur where it bowed to Burma in the finals.
Bagunas, the former National University star who has been campaigning as reinforcement in the prestigious V.Premier League in Japan, fired 23 kills to finish with 27 points while Espejo chipped in 20 points to form a powerful two-way attack machine.
Head coach Dante Alinsunurin said it was trust, hard work and a lot of prayers that made them stay afloat against a powerful Thai squad that is ranked 92 notches about the Philippines in the FIVB ranking.
“Even if we were down, we still worked hard and didn’t quit on each other,” said the 39-year-old Alinsunurin, giving special credit to the nearly 7,000 spectators who cheered and prayed with them all the way.
“We’re happy with the support given to us by our countrymen. As we know, men’s volleyball is not as popular as that of women’s. That’s why I was so surprised with the support given to us. They fired us up and inspired us to do well against a heavyweight team like Thailand.”
Shortly after replacing Sammy Acaylar last year, Alinsunurin turned the star-laden national men’s team into one of the hardest working squads.
They were training daily — without fanfare or drama — at the sweltering Arellano University School of Law gym as early as March with Espejo and Bagunas joining later due to their commitments with their Japanese clubs.
Skipper Johnvic de Guzman also did a good job keeping the squad together, especially during their two-week training camp in Japan, where they tested their mettles against various club and university teams. But winning the gold would not be a cakewalk.
The Indonesians bowed to Thailand in the gold-medal match in the previous SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, but they carry a very solid credential in international volleyball.
In fact, they are the winningest squad in the Southeast Asian Games with nine titles and have been consistently campaigning in other elite tourneys like FIVB Asian Men’s Championship and the Asian Games.
Their coach is Li Qui Jiang of China, the straight-as-an-arrow mentor of BNI Taplus in the Indonesian Proliga.
In their first match in the preliminaries, the Indonesians broke the Filipinos’ hearts, 25-23, 32-30, 25-20.
Bagunas finished with 24 points while Espejo had 17, but it wasn’t enough as the Indonesians registered 10 blocks that frustrated the Filipino spikers.
“We had a hard time playing against them,” Alinsunurin said, adding that the Indonesians will be tough nuts to crack, especially when a historic gold medal is on the line.
“But then again, it’s good that we lost to them in our first match. At least now we know the things we need to work and improve on. We know Indonesia is tough. It is a veteran team. But we’re willing to go the extra mile to pull off another upset.”
Aside from Bagunas, Espejo, De Guzman and Malabunga, also tipped to provide spark for the home squad are Joshua Retamar, Rex Intal, Ran Abdilla, Jessie Lopez and Ish Polvorosa.
“We will fight until the end. We will do everything to win the crown in front of our countrymen.”
Even if we were down, we still worked hard and didn’t quit on each other.