Alex Eala, Bryan Bagunas named Philippines’ 2025 SEA Games flag bearers

MANILA, Philippines – Two of the Philippines’ most recognizable sports icons in 2025 earned the honor of flying the country’s flag in this December’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand: tennis superstar Alex Eala and world-class volleyball great Bryan Bagunas.

“Popularity aside, Alex and Bryan have made impacts in the global sports community, and that makes them the best choice to carry the flag in the SEA Games,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino on Tuesday, December 2.

True enough, Eala and Bagunas not only popularized the Philippines in their respective fields but also made tangible leaps as Eala finished the 2025 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) season with a career-high world No. 50 ranking, highlighted by multiple breakthrough wins over top-5 world champion tennisters.

Bagunas, meanwhile, captained the Alas Pilipinas national team that notched a monumental win over nine-time African men’s volleyball champion Egypt and pushed world top-15 squad Iran to the absolute limit in the Philippines’ hosting of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.

Eala and Bagunas will jointly lead the Philippines’ 200-strong opening ceremony delegation out of 1,200-plus athletes total on Tuesday, December 9, in Bangkok as Thailand opens regional hostilities at the Rajamangala National Stadium.

Eala — the highest-ranked Filipina in WTA history — is widely expected to have a gold medal-or-bust campaign in the SEA Games as she and world No. 53 Indonesian Janice Tjen are the top two Southeast Asians in the rankings, and respectively, the fourth- and fifth-best ranked Asians in the world.

The Philippines has not won gold in SEA Games women’s singles tennis since Filipina legend Maricris Fernandez ruled the 1999 tournament in Brunei.

Bagunas and Alas, meanwhile, are laser-focused in training in Taiwan with the sole goal of breaking a 40-year gold-medal duopoly by powerhouse nations Indonesia and host Thailand, especially after a momentum-boosting World Championship campaign.

Still without a gold in SEA Games’ men’s volleyball, the Philippines last medaled in 2019 in Manila, where the national team broke Thailand’s gold five-peat bid in the semifinal before bowing to Indonesia in the final for its second-ever silver medal. – Rappler.com