Alas Pilipinas Boys moved one win away from their best-ever finish after defeating Hong Kong, 25-18, 28-26, 25-13, in the 9th-12th classification round of the 2026 AVC Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship on Friday at Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.
The Filipinos advanced to the ninth-place match against Indonesia on Saturday, where a victory would secure the country’s best-ever finish in the tournament since making its debut in 1997.
The Philippines cruised through the opening set, 25-18, but Hong Kong mounted a stronger challenge in the second frame, forcing three deadlocks before tying the score at 26-all.
Elijah Guzman then took over in crunch time, hammering back-to-back kills to give Alas Pilipinas a pivotal 28-26 victory and a commanding two-set lead.
The Filipinos never looked back in the third set. Al-Raquib Dais and Terrence Marticion powered the offense from all angles en route to a dominant 25-13 finish.
After erupting for a tournament-best 25 points against Australia, Dais once again led the way with 15 points built on 12 attacks and three blocks, while Marticion added 14 markers. Guzman contributed six points, including the two crucial kills that sealed the second set.
“I know that we are out of the podium finish, but I believe that we can still get the best out of the circumstances. We continued playing harder since our goal is to top our eleventh-place finish in Bahrain,” said Guzman.
“Facing Indonesia, we will do our very best to finish strong and finish ninth,” he added.
Lik Chun Lau led Hong Kong with 16 points.
Meanwhile, Japan and Iran will battle for the championship on Saturday, while Chinese Taipei and host China will face off for the bronze medal.
