NAGOYA—Angel Canino and Bella Belen are not satisfied with ninth place. The Alas Pilipinas stars said their gritty finish at the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games only fueled their hunger to chase a medal.

Alas Pilipinas closed the tournament on a three-game winning streak, beating Qatar, Mongolia, and Hong Kong. The run capped a turnaround after their medal hopes were dashed in the quarterfinal round.

The Filipinas sealed it with a 25-21, 25-9, 30-28 sweep of Hong Kong on Tuesday night at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium. The win secured ninth place just before China claimed the gold medal, 25-19, 25-20, 25-23, at the same venue.

Head coach Taka Minowa had reset the team’s target once the medal picture slipped away. He told his players to win every remaining classification match, and they delivered.

Canino, Belen Reflect on a Breakthrough Asian Games Run

It was Canino’s first Asian Games, and the closing wins carried real weight despite falling short of the original goal. “Actually, happy kami. Although hindi ‘yun yung gusto naming overall goal sa Asian Games, happy kami sa lahat ng wins namin… yung mga nagawa namin as a team and, of course, yung learning experience,” Canino said.

“Grabeng achievement siguro individually… such an amazing experience na makasama ko my ates, na makasama ako sa Philippine national team. Kasi yung iba diyan, ini-idolize ko din,” she said.

Belen, for her part, did not sugarcoat what the tournament revealed. “Iba. Iba talaga yung laruan. Ang dami naming napulot, lalo na sa amin mga bata,” she said. “Alam namin na meron pang dapat itaas. Taas pa namin yung level of playing namin.”

Alas Pilipinas Eyes Quarterfinal Breakthrough in Next Asian Games

The tougher matches against China and Kazakhstan, both of which ended the Philippines’ medal bid, still offered lessons. China swept the Filipinas, 25-18, 25-22, 25-8, to close out the quarterfinal round.

Kazakhstan, meanwhile, escaped with a grueling four-set win, 29-27, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19. Minowa said the tight scorelines showed his team can compete with Asia’s best.

“Actually, I think we have improvements… we have a lot to gain, experience. We became better team,” Belen added.

Canino is already setting her sights five years down the road. She is hoping for a quarterfinal breakthrough the next time the Philippines competes in the Asian Games.

Belen shares that same ambition and says she wants to return and finish higher than ninth. Both players see the ninth-place finish as a stepping stone, not a setback.

Alas Pilipinas leaves Nagoya without the medal it wanted. Still, Canino and Belen both say the campaign gave them a clearer blueprint for closing the gap next time.