Bagunas, Espejo, Malabunga make history anew for PH six years after SEA Games silver

Bryan Bagunas, Marck Espejo, and Kim Malabunga have long represented the Philippine flag, and now, they’ve witnessed first-hand the Alas Pilipinas national team’s transformation from regional runner-up to a global contender.

The breakthrough win comes nearly six years after the same core — Bagunas, Espejo, and Malabunga — powered the national team to a silver medal finish at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

Notably, both historic milestones were achieved on home soil. 

"Parang ‘yung last na na-feel ko ‘to nu’ng 2019 SEA Games pa e kasi mataas na liga rin ‘yun pero mas mataas ’to kaya sobrang saya," Malabunga told GMA News Online. 

"Sobrang saya kasi nakita namin ‘yung pinaghirapan namin nu'ng mga nakaraang taon, mga nakaraang tournaments. Parang nakita na namin na nagbunga ‘yung mga pinaghirapan namin."

[The last time I felt this was during the 2019 SEA Games. It was a high-level leagure also but this is even higher so I'm so happy... So happy because we've seen the work we put in the last years, the past tournaments. It's like we saw what we worked for bear fruit.]

Espejo and Bagunas were also emotional after the 29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21 win over Egypt, with the latter underscoring how far the team has come since that silver medal feat in the biennial meet.

During the SEA Games run, the Filipinos were able to dethrone then defending champion Thailand in the semifinals to arrange a finals match against Indonesia. Although they were not able to win it all, it was still a historic feat for the Philippines. 

And they hope to do more in the ongoing World Championship.

"Ang tanda ko na pala. Syempre milestone ‘yun nu’ng 2019 na nakuha ‘yung silver sa SEA Games pero itong nanalo kami sa Egypt, hindi pa dito natatapos, game lang naman ‘to," Espejo added.

"Masaya ako na hanggang ngayon part pa rin ako ng national team na nanalo sa SEA Games and nanalo ng first-ever dito sa World Championship."

[I realize I've gotten old. Of course it was a milestone back in 2019 that we won the silver in the SEA Games but this win over Egypt, this is not where it ends, this is just a game... I'm happy that I'm still part of the national team that won the SEA Games and won the first-ever here in the World Championship.]

Bagunas, whose 25-point explosion carried Alas past Egypt, said the victory was monumental since it's not everyday that the Philippines gets a chance to showcase its talent at a top-level competition like the FIVB Worlds. 

"For me, syempre sobrang nakaka-proud ‘to kaso World Championship to, ibrang level na talaga ‘to, high competition. Sobrang laki na dito kami nanalo," the team captain said. 

[For me, it makes me so proud but this is the World Championship, this is a different level, high competition. It's really big that we were able to win here.]

Alas will shoot for a Round of 16 spot on Thursday as they take on Iran in their final Pool A assignment. 

—JMB, GMA Integrated News