The Alas Pilipinas Boys bounced back from their opening-day defeat with a 25-22, 13-25, 25-23, 25-14 victory over Bahrain in the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Boys’ U18 Championship on Monday at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.
The win improved the Philippines to a 1-1 record in Pool B and kept its quarterfinal hopes alive. The Filipinos will face India on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in a crucial match, with the winner joining unbeaten Iran (2-0) in the next round.
Only the top two teams from each of the tournament’s four pools will advance to the quarterfinals.
Despite having just six weeks to prepare for the championship, head coach Oliver Balse was pleased with the team’s poise and response after Saturday’s straight-set loss to Iran.
“What was different today was their confidence,” Balse said. “I’m happy with how they performed. The team was more focused, and you could see how badly they wanted to win, especially in the third set.”
The Philippines regained control of the match in the pivotal third frame. After a 16-all deadlock, Alas launched a 6-4 run behind Terrence Marticion and Raphael Galapin to build a 22-20 advantage.
Bahrain threatened late as Mohamed Haram sparked a 3-0 run to trim the deficit to 24-23, but a net violation handed the Philippines the set and a 2-1 lead.
Alas then dominated the fourth set from start to finish, cruising to a 25-14 win to avoid a deciding fifth frame.
Marticion led the Philippines with 16 points on 15 attacks and one block, while Galapin and Guerra chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Mohamed Haram paced Bahrain with 18 points, while Nasralla Haram added 16.
Bahrain will also take on Iran on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the tournament, South Korea (2-0) and Japan (1-0) lead their pool, while Saudi Arabia (0-2) and Australia (0-1) remain in pursuit. In Pool A, host China and Chinese Taipei are among the early contenders, while Pakistan strengthened its position atop Pool C with a perfect 2-0 record.
