By the Associated Press

Veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is returning to help his struggling former club AC Milan, which is reeling from a humiliating defeat and languishing way behind city rival Inter Milan.

Ibrahimovic’s arrival resembles something of a rescue mission for a seven-time European champion fallen on tough times.

That’s because Milan is mired in 11th place in Serie A, a distant 21 points behind league leader Inter, and none of its players has more than four league goals this season.

Matters reached a crushing low last Sunday, when Italy’s most successful club in the European Cup endured its heaviest league defeat in 21 years, a 5-0 defeat at Atalanta on Sunday.

The club desperately needs Ibrahimovic at his best to stem the rot and have a chance at qualifying for a European place next season.

“I’ll fight together with my teammates to change the course of this season,” said Ibrahimovic, who has never lacked confidence in a stellar and varied career. “I will do everything to make it happen.”

The 38-year-old Swede has agreed a deal until the end of the season with the option to extend the contract for another season, the club announced Friday.

Ibrahimovic has taken his brash confidence with him wherever he has gone.

He needed it as a shield when forging a career against considerable adversity when he was growing up in Sweden. After starting out with modest Malmö, he then impressed enough with Amsterdam-based Ajax to earn a move to Italian powerhouse Juventus at the age of 23.

From there followed stints with Inter and Spanish giant Barcelona. He scored regularly for both, but for once he was overshadowed by the diminutive frame of Lionel Messi at Barca.

He stayed with the Catalan club only one season, taking the hint there was a bigger star than him shining, and so joined Milan for two seasons.

He then moved to Paris Saint-Germain, where he had a prolific four years, and subsequently to Manchester United and recently the LA Galaxy. But Ibrahimovic always spoke fondly of his time with the Rossoneri and keenly left the door open for a move back.

“I’m coming back to a club I hugely respect and to the city of Milan I love,” said Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s record scorer with 62 international goals and owner of nearly 500 club goals.

He has been named the best player in Serie A and the French Ligue 1 three times, and best foreign player in Italy five times.

The deal is subject to medical examination and Ibrahimovic will be in Milan on Jan. 2 to take it, before joining his teammates for his first training session.

If he’s passed fit it will then be time for Ibra, as he is known, to show Milan’s fans he has lost none of the old magic against Sampdoria on Jan. 6.

Fittingly for a player who craves the limelight, that match is at home.

Milan’s fans will expect nothing less than instant success, and neither will he.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

MOSCOW — Russia confirmed Friday that it will appeal its four-year Olympic ban for manipulating doping data.

The Russian anti-doping agency, known as RUSADA, sent a formal letter disagreeing with the sanctions imposed earlier this month by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The case is now heading to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Next year’s Olympics in Tokyo will be the third consecutive edition of the games preceded by a legal battle over Russian doping issues.

RUSADA said it “disputes the (WADA) notice in its entirety,” including the evidence of tampering with the data archive. The data was handed over in January and was meant to clear up past cover-ups, but has led to more legal tussles.

RUSADA’s own CEO, Yuri Ganus, attached his own note of protest to Friday’s letter. Ganus is critical of Russian officials and had disagreed with the decision to appeal. He was overruled by his agency’s founders, which include some of Russia’s most influential sports leaders.

The WADA sanctions ban the use of the Russian team name, flag or anthem at a range of major sports competitions over the next four years, including next year’s Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Ganus said he believes any appeal has little chance of success and could even lead to harsher sanctions, including a ban of all Russian athletes, who under the current ban are allowed to compete as neutrals.

“There is a possibility of entering the case new players which may demand from the court not to soften the sanctions but to toughen them,” Ganus said. “The sanctions regime that is in place against the Russian sport is not full, it is not a 100 percent. There were greater sanctions, up to a ban of all athletes.”

Russians will be allowed to compete in Tokyo as unaffiliated athletes if they pass a vetting process that examines their history of drug testing, and possible involvement in cover-ups at the lab.

That has prompted anger from some Western athletes and organizations like the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which wanted a blanket ban on Russian athletes.

The appeal was widely expected with Russian President Vladimir Putin having branded the ban “unfair.”

RUSADA’s supervisory board voted Dec. 19 to file an arbitration case with CAS in Switzerland after WADA ruled Russia had manipulated doping laboratory data to cover up past offenses. Putin has said it was not fair to threaten Russia with more doping-related punishment, and that any sanctions should be on an individual basis. “I think it is not just unfair but not corresponding to common sense and law,” Putin said.

After a panel of three CAS arbitrators is chosen, a verdict will be issued within three months.

Putin added that WADA’s recommended four-year ban on Russia hosting major sports competitions would have little effect, pointing to the 2022 men’s volleyball world championships as an event Russia intends to keep.

WADA demands events are moved unless it’s “legally or practically impossible” to do so, which could create a loophole for event organizers who don’t want to break financial commitments.

That ban already doesn’t apply to next year’s European Championship soccer games in St. Petersburg or the 2021 Champions League final, both of which are exempt because they’re continental, not world, championships.

Russia handed over the lab’s doping data archive in January in return for having earlier sanctions lifted in 2018.

WADA investigators found evidence that Russia was intensively editing the data in the weeks before the handover to remove signs of failed drug tests.

Ganus has said he believes the editing took place, and he said a hearing reveal further evidence of data manipulation.

“What are the risks? First of all, it is a public hearing, which will reveal to the whole world the supporting information of the official position of sports authorities on changes in the computer database,” Ganus said.

WADA said it found fake messages spliced into chat logs in an apparent attempt to smear former lab director Grigory Rodchenkov, who’s become a key witness for WADA since leaving Russia. Rodchenkov went public with allegations of a vast state-sponsored doping scheme after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where Russia was the top medal-winning country.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has a groin contusion and is questionable to play Saturday against the Trail Blazers, but will make the trip to Portland, the NBA team said Friday.

James said Wednesday he aggravated a groin injury when he collided with the Los Angeles Clippers’ Patrick Beverley in the first quarter of the Lakers’ Christmas Day defeat.

“I got kneed in the groin taking a charge from Pat Bev, and it kind of set me right back to where I was five days ago,” said James, who had missed time on the court with what the team said was a back muscle strain, but he had apparently been battling a sore groin as well.

James, who turns 35 on Monday, suffered a torn left groin against the Golden State Warriors last Christmas and missed five weeks.

It was the first major injury of his career, and his absence proved too much for the Lakers to overcome as they failed to make the playoffs.

On Wednesday, James said he would seek treatment and decide close to game time if he’s healthy enough to play.

“I’m always around the clock with my body, getting my treatment,” said James, whose current injury is on the other side of his body from his injury of last season. “If I’m feeling great, I’ll be in the lineup. If I’m feeling well, I’ll be in the lineup.”

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES – The February 22 rematch between World Boxing Council heavyweight world titleholder Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, promoters announced on Friday.

Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions said tickets for the highly anticipated bout would go on sale on Saturday, now that the venue has been confirmed.

”I’m happy and I’m excited that the rematch is finally happening,” said Wilder, who will make his 11th title defense.

The American is coming off a seventh-round knockout of Luis Ortiz on November 23 in Las Vegas, a victory that saw him improve to 43-0.

”I want to give the fans what they want to see. I’ve been doing it with my last three outings – Fury, (Dominic) Breazeale and Ortiz,” he said.

”They’ve been spectacular events – from my ring walks, where I gather all the energy of the people, to my uniforms that I wear to help spread that energy. Then I give them what they all come for – the knockouts, and my knockouts have been amazing.”

Wilder and Fury fought to a split decision draw last December in Los Angeles.

Former world champion Fury was leading on the scorecards before he was knocked down by the American in the 12th round.

The big Briton beat the count, but a second knockdown helped cost him a victory.

”I proved myself the first time and I’m ready to do it again,” Wilder said. ”It was a very controversial fight. I promise my fans that there won’t be any controversy with this one. I’m going to finish it.”

Fury, who survived two severe cuts to beat Otto Wallin by unanimous decision in September, said he was looking forward to taking care of ”unfinished business” against Wilder.

”The date has been set, and the ‘Bomb Squad’ is about to be securely detonated and the real champion crowned as the world watches on for the most anticipated fight in years.

”This is unfinished business for me, but come February 22, this dosser will finally get what’s coming to him, and I can’t wait!”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jenny Ortuoste

Marking the gradual loss of stalwarts from horseracing’s glory days, multi-awarded racehorse trainer Antonio C. Alcasid Sr. passed away in the wee hours of Dec. 24 after a lingering illness. He was 80.

Alcasid, a veterinarian educated at the University of the Philippines, was renowned in the sport for several decades beginning in the 1970s. He retired in September 2006 as the all-time number one trainer in terms of stakes races and awards won.

He held 12 Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Presidential Gold Cup victories, won in various years from 1977 to 2001, a record so far unequalled.

The PCSO Gold Cup is the sport’s most prestigious and richest annual race. He won it back-to-back four times: with Little Morning and Gypsy Grey in 1977 and 1978, with Fair and Square in 1981 and 1982, with Dino Bambino and Headmaster in 1984 and 1985, and with Time Master and Thriller in 1987 and 1988.

“Doc,” as he was known in racing circles, also won the PCSO Gold Cup three consecutive times with Grand Party, Fair Start, and Crown Colony in 1992, 1993, and 1994.

While all these Gold Cup victories were memorable, he wrote that the one with Crown Colony was the most special because the winning jockey was his son, Antonio “Oyet” B. Alcasid Jr., who is now racing manager of Santa Ana Park, Philippine Racing Club’s racetrack at Naic, Cavite.

In an article for Horseman’s Digest magazine in the mid-2000s, he wrote about that race: “She broke last from the gate and trailed the field by many lengths. A strong rally in the middle stages and an impressive finishing kick gave her the victory. When she won the race, no less than President Fidel V. Ramos handed us the trophies during the awards presentation.”

Dr. Alcasid also won the PCSO First Lady Silver Cup twice, in 2002 with Wind Blown and 2005 with Cover Girl. He also holds 17 Triple Crown leg victories, several of them grand slams.

Alcasid leaves behind his wife, Gloria, children Irma, Gigi, Oyet, Michael, Gary, and Philip, nine granddaughters and a great-grandson.

He won so many Trainer of the Year awards he could not remember them all.

For his achievements, he was recognized as one of the sport’s icons in “The Front Runner,” a coffee-table book marking the 150th anniversary of the Manila Jockey Club that was launched earlier this month.

As a trainer, he believed the horse’s health was paramount. In past interviews, he emphasized good nutrition for horses at all stages and rejected the use of stimulants or performance boosters, saying they were bad for the health in the long run.

He rarely ran horses as two-year-olds, saying “I tried to develop an athlete that would last and maintain its form throughout its career. [I trained many that retired] sound in spite of campaigning for stakes races where the competition was top caliber.”

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jan Carlo Anolin

A Canadian teen diagnosed with a rare form of cancer fulfilled his ‘dying wish’ after meeting idol and NBA star LeBron James on Christmas Day.

17-year-old Corey Groves was diagnosed with stage four sarcoma cancer this year, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweeted Thursday.

This is 17-year-old Corey Groves. He was diagnosed with stage four sarcoma cancer this year. As a lifelong Lakers fan living in Canada, his dying dream was to come to Staples Center and meet LeBron James. Well, that happened today for Corey at the team’s walk through. Tremendous pic.twitter.com/yJf8OYjQ8e

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 25, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

“As a lifelong Lakers fan living in Canada, his dying dream was to come to Staples Center and meet LeBron James. Well, that happened today (Wednesday) for Corey at the team’s walk through. Tremendous,” the tweet added.

Despite enduring the illness and the knowledge that he has less than a year to live, it was still a merry Christmas for Groves who was all smiles having met James.

Grove savored the time to shake hands and pose for a photo with James at the bleachers before the Lakers faced off with the Clippers.

View this post on Instagram

Merry Christmas I got my wish .so thankful to everyone that helped make this happen @kingjames @coreyswish2019 #coreyswish2019

A post shared by Corey’s wish (@coreyswish2019) on Dec 25, 2019 at 8:53pm PST

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

“I got my wish,” Groves wrote on Instagram Thursday. “So thankful to everyone that helped make this happen.”

Behind the scenes, Nav Bhatia is the man to thank for. The Toronto Raptors superfan lent a helping hand and assured that Groves and James will meet soon, as reported by CTV.

Bhatia founded the Superfan Foundation in 2018 in a bid to help unite the people and youth of Canada with sports.

According to a gofundme fundraiser created by Sherry Williams, a friend of Groves’ mother, the survival rate for patients with the illness is 15%.

Groves, against the odds, says “he’s not afraid to die.”

“He (Corey) has allowed for the doctors/teams to guinea pig him taking both good and bad cells, lots of blood samples and several tests in order for them to find a treatment for this exact cancer that so little is known about,” Williams wrote, adding that Corey hopes to help the next person to fall victim with the illness.

Sarcoma is a type of cancer that starts in tissues such as in bones or muscles.

Soft tissue sarcomas, meanwhile, can “develop in soft tissues like fat, muscle, nerves, fibrous tissues, blood vessels, or deep skin tissues,” the American Cancer Society wrote on its website.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

They’re called “Simone Things,” a catchall phrase for the casual ease with which Simone Biles seems to soar through her sport and her life.

The irony, of course, is that there’s nothing casual or easy about it. Any of it. The greatest gymnast of all time and 2019 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year only makes it seem that way.

Those jaw-dropping routines that are rewriting her sport’s code of points and redefining what can be done on the competition floor? Born from a mix of natural talent, hard work and a splash of ego.

The 25 world championship medals, the most by any gymnast ever? The result of a promise the 22-year-old made to herself when she returned to competition in 2017 after taking time off following her golden run at the 2016 Olympics.

The stoicism and grace she has shown in becoming an advocate for survivors — herself included — and an agent for change in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that’s shaken USA Gymnastics to its core? The byproduct of a conscious decision to embrace the immense clout she carries.

“I realize now with the platform I have it will be powerful if I speak up and speak for what I believe in,” Biles told The Associated Press. “It’s an honor to speak for those that are less fortunate. So if I can be a voice for them in a positive manner, then of course I’m going to do whatever I can.”

And it’s that mission — combined with her otherworldly skill and boundless charisma — that’s enabled Biles to keep gymnastics in the spotlight, a rarity for a sport that typically retreats into the background once the Olympic flame goes out. She is the first gymnast to be named AP Female Athlete of the Year twice and the first to do it in a non-Olympic year.

Biles edged U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe in a vote by AP member sports editors and AP beat writers.

Skiing star Mikaela Schiffrin placed third, with WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne fourth. Biles captured the award in 2016 following a showstopping performance at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she won five medals in all, four of them gold. She spent most of the following 12 months taking a break before returning to the gym in the fall of 2017, saying she owed it to herself to mine the depth of her talent.

Check social media following one of her routines and you’ll find people — from LeBron James to Michelle Obama to Chrissy Teigen — struggling to distill what they’ve witnessed into 280 characters or fewer, with whatever they settle on typically followed by multiple exclamation points and a goat emoji, a nod to Biles being considered the Greatest Of All Time.

Her triple-twisting double-flip (the “triple double”) at the end of her first tumbling pass on floor exercise is a wondrous blur. Her double-twisting double-flip beam dismount (the “double double”) is so tough the International Gymnastics Federation made the unusual decision to downplay its value in an effort to deter other gymnasts from even trying it.

This is both the blessing and the curse of making the nearly impossible look tantalizingly attainable. When Biles learned about the FIG’s decision, she vented on Twitter, her palpable frustration highlighting the realness she’s maintained even as her first name has become synonymous with her sport’s royalty.

It can lead to a bit of a balancing act. In some ways, she’s still the kid from Texas who just wants to hang out with her boyfriend and her dog and go to the grocery story without being bothered. In other ways, she’s trying to be respectful of the world she’s built.

Take the GOAT thing. It’s a title she embraces — Biles wore a goat-themed leotard during training at the national championships in August — but also takes with a grain of salt, determined to stay grounded even as the hype around her grows. Yes, GOAT happens to be the acronym for her planned post-Olympic “Gold Over America Tour,” but ask her where the inspiration came from and she laughs and gives credit to a friend, Kevin, who came up with it in a group chat. It is both paying tribute to and winking at her status at the same time.

Biles has become well aware over the last three years that her every word and action carries far greater weight than she ever imagined. Her most impactful moment of 2019 might not have come during a meet but sitting for an interview on the eve of winning her record sixth national title, when she fought back tears while talking about how USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the FBI failed to protect athletes during an investigation into Nassar’s abusive behavior.

The moment went viral, as most things surrounding her tend to do these days.

“I’m starting to realize it’s not just the gymternet anymore,” Biles said, using the term for her sport’s dedicated fans. “It’s an overall thing. It’s weird to get that kind of attention, but at the end of the day, I feel gymnastics has been overlooked in non-Olympic years. Yeah, it puts pressure on me. But I’m not trying to think about all the attention from the outside world.”

The attention figures to only grow in the run-up to Tokyo, where she will attempt to become the first female gymnast in more than half a century to repeat as Olympic champion. Her smiling face serves as the exclamation point at the end of every television promo for the Summer Games.

Let it be known: The smile is real. That might not have always been the case, but is is now. Heading into the final months of a singular career, she is trying to revel in the journey while anxiously awaiting what’s next. Add it to the list of Simone Things.

“I feel like this is the beginning of my life and I don’t want gymnastics to be my whole entire life,” she said. “I’m definitely going to soak in the moment and enjoy it so 10 years from now I can look back and say ‘I had the time of my life out there’ … rather than ‘I was good, but I was miserable.’”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Waylon Galvez

Rio Olympics veteran Hidilyn Diaz hopes to have a good showing in the 2020 Weightlifting World Championship in Rome to solidify her chances of earning a spot to the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Diaz is currently No. 5 in the world ranking of the 55kg women’s category, with only the top eight in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) ratings advancing to the Summer Games.

“Napaka-importante nitong tournament na ito para sa akin kasi halos lahat ng possible na makalaban sa Olympics expected na andun,” said Diaz who secured her Italian visa Friday at an application office in Makati.

“Siyempre gusto natin na maganda ang maipakita sa world championships – hopefully top three – para ma-sustain ko yung position ko sa world ranking ng IWF,” added the 28-year-old weightlifter from Zamboanga City.

Diaz, a silver medalist in the previous Rio Olympics in Brazil, won her first gold during the 30th Southeast Asian Games here two weeks ago – a ‘silver medal status’ under the IWF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which improved her ranking to 3.632.0672 points.

Currently leading in the 55kg category are Chinese weightlifters Jiang Huihua (4,667.8878), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.9622), Zhang Wanqiong (4,212.6639) and Li Yajun (4,099.0223), while at No. 6 is Muattar Nabieva of Uzbekistan (3,519.9108), Yenny Sinisterra of Colombia at No. 7 (3,432. 7232) and Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo at No. 8 (3,413.5078).

Under the IWF rules, athletes can earn points by joining different OQTs with corresponding levels.

Tournaments like the world championships or world cup are categorized as gold status, continental and regional meets, including the SEA Games, are silver, while invitational events are bronze.

Diaz had little rest following the biennial meet since she needs to stay in shape for the World Championship. She will be joined by her team, composed of Chinese coach Kaiwen Gao, as well as strengthening and conditioning coach Julius Irvin Naranjo and massage therapist Belen Bañas.

“One week before the World Championship, punta na kami sa Rome, training for a week before the actual competition. Maaga kami dun para maka-adjust na din sa weather,” Hidilyn said.

 

Diaz said that while there are questions raised if this is her final stint in the Olympics, she is not thinking about 2024 Paris, rather she is focused on doing well in the Tokyo meet.

“Madaming puwedeng mangyari sa mga susunod na mga taon e, kaya kapag tinatanong ako, ang palaging sagot ko focus lang muna ako sa 2020 Olympics. Of course kini-claim ko na maka-medal tayo, maganda yung training and preparation,” said Diaz.

With the support of the Philippine Sports Commission led by chairman Butch Ramirez and the MVP Sports Foundation under Al Panlilio, Diaz will also compete in the Asian Championship in Kazakhstan, her last OQT before the Tokyo Olympics scheduled July 24 to August 9.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jan Carlo Anolin

University of Santo Tomas will have a taste of Mayhem for three more years after head coach Aldin Ayo reportedly secured a three-year contract extension with the Tigers.

Ayo remains at the helm for UST until 2023 despite having a year left in his contract, Spin.ph first broke the news Friday.

Reports said Ayo and Fr. Jannel Abogado, O.P., head of UST’s Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA), both agreed on the deal earlier this month.

Ayo steered UST to an 8-6 elimination round finish at fourth seed last season, an obvious improvement compared to his first coaching stint with the España-based squad at sixth place (5-9).

The Tigers gave UAAP fans a series to remember after surviving the stepladder matches against Far Eastern University and twice-to-beat incentive holder University of the Philippines but yielded to three-peat champions Ateneo in the Finals.

The Tigers will anchor the new UAAP season on a young and intact core from last season sans fiery guard Renzo Subido, known to have knocked down crucial plays during the stepladder semifinals series.

Season 82 MVP Soulemane Chabi Yo and Rookie of the Year Mark Nonoy will spearhead UST together with key cogs Rhenz Abando, former team captain CJ Cansino, Brent Paraiso and Sherwin Concepcion.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

A burning question in the upcoming PBA Governors’ Cup Finals is whether Raymond Almazan can provide the inside presence Meralco needs in order to match up with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s frontline duo of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar.

Almazan is of the opinion that he is.

The 6-foot-8 center is confident he can be the equalizer the Bolts lacked in their two previous Finals defeats to Ginebra, even if he’s coming off a rough showing in the recent semifinal series with TNT KaTropa.

“Sana makabawi ako sa Finals. Hindi ko iniisip yung semis kasi panalo naman kami,” Almazan said.

“Alam naman natin na naghahanap yung Meralco ng big man, matagal na,” added Almazan, who was acquired by Meralco from Rain or Shine in a trade last May. “Sa presence ko siguro, makakatulong ako this coming Finals.”

Almazan was one of the reasons Meralco made its way to the Finals for the third time in the last four editions of the Governors’ Cup, bouncing back from the struggles in his debut conference for the team in the Commissioner’s Cup with averages of 11.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.

But Almazan was hardly a factor in the semis as he only produced 4.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He had six turnovers in Game 4 but was fortunate to see the Bolts force a deciding game.

The six-year veteran admitted that facing a TNT frontline led by Troy Rosario has made it difficult for him to match up, given Rosario’s knack to play more in the perimeter.

He is glad, however, that Cliff Hodge was able to make up for what he’s lacked during the hard-fought series.

“Medyo masama yung laro ko noong Game 4 at Game 5,” he said. “Ayun lumabas si Cliff na sobrang energetic and then talagang nakakasabay kasi ang problema namin is yung bigs ng TNT sobrang bibilis at siya ang nakaka-catch up.”

With the focus now on Ginebra, Almazan will have to make sure he can pose a difficult challenge for Slaughter and Aguilar, who are expected to play prominent roles in their bid to deal Meralco another heartbreaking loss in the big stage.

He has tasted winning a championship before, as a member of Rain or Shine’s run in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup under coach Yeng Guiao.

“Gusto ko yun kasi talagang mga big man yun e. Masasabi mong matchup yung finals,” said Almazan. “Kung sinong kukuhanin ko, wala akong pakialam. Finals is Finals e.”

Source: Manila Bulletin