THE Alas Pilipinas team got a breath of fresh air after its biggest star, Bryan Bagunas, has returned to training after recovering from a knee injury he sustained early this year.
“I’m really happy to be back on the court. I wouldn’t say I’m at 100% yet, but I’m doing my best to catch up with the team,” said Mr. Bagunas during Wednesday’s promotional event at the MRT-3 station.
“We all know how high the level of competition is now, so I’m pushing myself to keep up with them,” he added.
Mr. Bagunas’ much-awaited came with nine days to go before the mammoth 32-nation FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships unfurls at the MOA Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum.
For Marck Espejo, the Nationals’ other leader, the squad is slowly but surely getting closer to its immediate goal of being competitive in the 32-nation event scheduled Sept. 12 to 28.
“As a team, we still have a long way to go, but we’ve also come a long way since we started training together, especially during our training camp in Europe,” said Alas standout Marck Espejo during the same promotional event.
“This a big tournament, of course, but all of us are ready,” he added.
Mr. Espejo was referring to their European sojourn where they held a two-week training camp in Morocco, Romania and Portugal.
The preparation will be continuous though especially that the mammoth 32-nation competition is just nine days away.
“I’m excited, but we’re still focused on training so we can bring out the team’s full potential,” said Mr. Espejo.
Also present in the promotional event were Owa Retamar, Kim Malabunga, Steve Rotter, Louie Ramirez, Buds Buddin, Leo Ordiales, Josh Ybañez, Peng Taguibolos, Lucca Mamone, Vince Lorenzo, Jack Kalingking and Lloyd Josafat as well as Alas women coach Jorge Souza De Brito, Jia De Guzman, Eya Laure, Maddie Madayag and Cla Loresco.
Alas clashes with Tunisia at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12, Egypt Sept. 16 and Iran Sept. 18 all at the MOA Arena. — Joey Villar