Malabunga rues late-match blunder

Kim Malabunga couldn’t help but blame himself for Alas Pilipinas’ botched trip to the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Round of 16.

What could’ve been his heroic moment in the super extended fifth and deciding set turned into a crucial opening for world No. 15 Iran to eke out a come-from-behind 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20, victory that left Alas and its roaring fans stunned Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Alas was on its sixth match point advantage, 19-18, in the virtual Pool A do-or-die game when the middle blocker caught Iranian winger Ali Haghparast with a well-timed single block.

The ball ricocheted into the Iranian side, followed by a loud eruption of celebration from the crowd inside the venue.

Alas players were already in euphoria, knowing they had slain a Goliath and would move on to the next phase right on their maiden campaign on the world stage.

But the first referee didn’t blow the final whistle. Instead, he signaled for a video challenge.

Iran, which still has a challenge left, called for a review of the last play.

It looked like head coach Roberto Piazza’s desperate attempt to see if the breaks of the game would come Iran’s way.

He was correct. Luck smiled at the Iranians.

The review showed that Malabunga’s hand grazed the lower part of the net on his way down.

Alas and the Philippines’ celebration turned out to be premature and the Iranians made them pay.

Haghparast pushed Iran back in front, 21-20, before Kazemi Yousef sealed the win with a solid kill block over Marck Espejo.

“I can’t explain what I’m feeling right. I feel down. That’s on me. We could’ve won, but I got out of balance (on my landing),” a dejected Malabunga said.

“Sorry, that’s on me.”

Malabunga finished with 10 points behind Bryan Bagunas’ 22 markers, Leo Ordiales’ 21 and Espejo’s 15.

“I’d say we’re still happy. Happy and at the same time,” he said.

“I could see my coaches and teammates are happy with the result of what we worked hard for the past year, and it showed in this game. Happy but I can’t help but feel a bit of regret.”

The world no. 77-ranked Alas, which got a free pass in the World Championship as host, finished its campaign with a 1-2 win-loss record.

After getting swept by Tunisia, the Filipinos bounced back with a historic four-set win over six-time African champion Egypt last Tuesday.

“This World Championship has a big impact on us as a team. It has given us valuable experience for our next tournaments. We’ll be better and bounce back for the Filipinos,” Malabunga said.

“The biggest lesson we learned is that we can’t give up because we’ve proven that we can compete.”