Indonesia spoiled the Philippines’ Cinderella run in a straight sets loss, 25-21, 27-15, 25-17, in the mens volleyball gold match of the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Philippine team, which was formed just eight months ago, made a memorable stand in front of the sold-out stadium, ending a 22-year medal drought in the biennial competition that started in 1977.
Mark Espejo had 14 points and Bryan Bagunas finished with 11 points. Rex Intal and Alnakaran Abdilla added nine and five points, respectively.
Ave Retamar orchestrated Philippines’ offense with 20 excellent sets.
Doni Haryono and Rivan Nurmulki led Indonesia tallying 20 and 15 points, respectively. Sigit Ardian helped with 11 points, along with Yuda Mardiansyah Putra who chipped in six points.
The Philippines was more defensive, countering Indonesia’s explosiveness with stellar receptions.
The national team had 44 receptions out of 68 attempts compared to Indonesia’s 30 in 57.
Jack Kalingking led with 20 receptions and Espejo had 16.
“We made tiny problems, but our motivation was that we already had a medal,” said head coach Dante Alinsunurin in the post-game press conference. “Before the sets end, our mindset was that we should always aim to end the game in a high note.”
Thailand, whose four-year gold streak was ended by Philippines in the semifinals, earned the bronze medal.