The Right Substitution Is a Factor for the Indonesian Volleyball National Team to Make History as the AVC Cup 2026 Champion

The Indonesian Men's Volleyball National Team at the 2026 AVC Men's Volleyball Cup (doc. PBVSI).

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Men's Volleyball National Team (National Team) made history after coming out as the 2026 AVC Men's Volleyball Cup champion by defeating South Korea in the final match.

The Garuda squad brought home the title from the prestigious event after defeating the opponent with a score of 3-0 (34-32, 25-16, and 25-23) in the final duel which took place in India on Sunday, June 28, 2026, WIB evening.

Nur Widayanto who served as assistant coach admitted that he was very grateful for the achievements of his students. He said this success also answered the doubts of many parties.

"It feels like a dream. Many people doubted this team, but my friends answered it with an extraordinary achievement even surpassing the federation's target," said Widayanto in an official statement from the Indonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI).

Head coach, Reidel Toiran, made changes to the composition of the players in the final match. Rama Fazza was trusted to replace Fauzan Nibras and Putra Hidayatullah entered to replace Ahmad Gumilar.

Meanwhile, Alfin Daniel, Boy Arnez Arabi, Hendra Kurniawan, and Farhan Halim remain the mainstay since the beginning of the match. The decision was absolutely right.

Nur explained that Indonesia had difficulty in the opening set due to the hard serve of the South Korean players which made his team's attack pattern not develop.

"In the first set, we were surprised by the South Korean player's serve which made it difficult so that our attack was not optimal and easily blocked by their block," he said.

The situation changed since the second set. Aggressive serves from Indonesia began to pressure the opponent's defense and open opportunities for the players to score points.

Striking performances were shown by Boy Arnez and Farhan Halim, who helped Garuda's blockers to score points and the backcourt got defensive balls that later became counterattack weapons.

"The most important thing is the coach's brilliant strategy. He put Rama Fazza in place of Nibras. Alhamdulillah Rama was able to produce many points through attacks and serves. The change was really successful," said Nur.