By MARK REY MONTEJO
Bryan Bagunas made a triumphant return to the professional league after winning his first title with the Osaka Blueton in the SV.League in Japan on Sunday, May 17.
The Blueton captured the title in commanding fashion, scoring a 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 Game 3 win to dethrone the Suntory Sunbirds at the Yokohama Arena for their first championship.
“Thank you Lord. Long season, tough battles, beautiful ending. Champions at last,” Bagunas wrote on his social media post.
It was a sweet title breakthrough for the Alas Pilipinas skipper and Osaka as it came a little over five months after losing to Italy’s Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Brazil last December.
Bagunas managed to enter the taraflex in Game 1 where he posted three points in the team’s losing effort.
Prior to their championship triumph, Bagunas and the Blueton concluded their elimination campaign with a 38-6 win-loss card – second behind the Sunbirds (40-4) in the 10-team field tournament.
It wasn’t the first time Bagunas, a decorated National University standout, bagged a crown on foreign soil. He had two and an MVP plum when he was suiting up for the Taichung Win Streak in the Top Volleyball League championship two years ago.
The Balayan, Batangas native is national team mainstay and fresh off leading Alas to a promising 19th-place finish in the country’s historic hosting of the prestigious 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship last September.
