India sends Alas boys packing

Alas Pilipinas paid dearly for squandering a two-set lead in a costly collapse against India as it bowed out of quarterfinal contention in the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championships on Tuesday at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.

The Philippines took a commanding lead after the first two frames but lost steam as the Indians fought back to pull off a reverse sweep in a stinging 25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 4-15, defeat that relegated Alas to the classification round.

Alas finished the group stage in third place in Pool B with a 1-2 win-loss record.

Terrence Marticion, Allan-Rey Dais, Terrence Gamotea and John Daniel Dela Cruz started Alas’ early assault to take control of the match.

But the Filipinos made a fatal mistake of relaxing, which India capitalized on to level the match and force a decider.

India’s team captain Sourabh Kashma connived with Adarsh Singh and Deepak Deepak in the fifth set to build an 8-2 lead.

Already demoralized, Alas failed to match the intensity of India in a lopsided set loss. Kashma finished the match with back-to-back service winners.

Unbeaten Iran (3-0) and India (2-1) will head to the Last 8.

“We were so close; we were already there, yet we fell short. We did not hold on until the end. There are situations where we could’ve taken the set and won. But maybe this match is not for us,” Alas head coach Oliver Balse said.

“I am still happy with how they performed, because I can really see the skills, but maturity is something that we really need to work on,” he added.

Marticion had 16 points on 14 attacks and two aces, while Galapin and Dais chipped in 14 points each. Gamotea and Dela Cruz added nine points apiece for the Philippines.

“We still have to keep our heads up. This serves as a hard-learned lesson for us. Still, we are inspired to do better in our own leagues in the Philippines,” Marticion added.

Kashma exploded for 31 points, while Deepak had 16 points for India.