By Agence France-Presse

Surfing legend Kelly Slater, seen by many as the greatest of all time, won’t be competing at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 47-year-old American was edged for a spot on the US squad for the sport’s Olympic debut next July, with John John Florence returning from knee surgery to edge Slater for the final spot at an event in Hawaii on Thursday.

Slater, an 11-time world champion who became the youngest and oldest to win the crown, inspired a generation of surfing stars with videos of his amazing efforts becoming must-see viewing for fans and competitors.

Competing as an Olympian would have been an epic farewell for a 40-year career than began at age eight in a youth event but instead he will be watching the event.

“I’m going to enjoy it as a spectator,” Slater told the New York Times, dismissing any notion he would end his career early after missing out on the Olympics.

“Be sure that in 2020, they will continue to see me at the top of a wave,” he added.

Slater needed a victory at the Pipeline Masters on Oahu’s North Shore to secure the title but lost in the semi-finals, leaving him ranked eighth in the world but one spot behind 2016 and 2017 world champion Florence, who took the second US men’s team spot behind already qualified Kolohe Andino.

Florence, an Oahu North Shore native 20 years younger than Slater, was a former protege of the surf icon.

“He has been my idol since I was a child,” Florence said. “He’s like a member of my family, like an uncle.”

Florence, who missed five of 11 tour events this year with a knee injury, returned for the season finale but was eliminated in the Pipeline quarter-finals. He sealed his Olympic spot when Slater lost to Brazil’s Italo Ferreira in the semis.

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Game Saturday
(Ynares Center, Antipolo City)
6:30 p.m. – TNT KaTropa vs Meralco
(TNT leads series 2-1)

For the Meralco Bolts, Game 3 of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals was not lost because of a major endgame boo-boo but with the way they squandered a big lead and failing to control the boards when needed.

“We certainly had a chance to win the game,” said Black, whose Bolts will try to force a deciding fifth game in Saturday’s resumption of their series at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

“We gave them some offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter that hurt us. And made a turnover in the most crucial time of the game,” Black added.

Meralco was hoping to send the game into overtime with a three-pointer in the final seconds. Two-time Best Import Allen Durham had the ball when he spotted a teammate who was wide open in the right elbow.

Durham made the pass only to realize that it was Cliff Hodge, who was not among the five on the floor for Meralco. Hodge was on sidelines making signals for his teammates on the floor.

The Meralco bench recoiled in shock, and Hodge immediately sat back on the bench in disgust at himself. Jayson Castro took advantage of the error in judgment by the Bolts and split two foul shots to seal a 101-97 win.

“Hopefully he didn’t pass it to Cliff because Cliff was along the sidelines,” Black lamented. “But yeah, that was pretty costly, but it happens. It’s bad that it happened to us in the most crucial part of the game.”

Hodge later took the blame for that mistake, while Durham opted to point out other aspects as to why the result occurred.

“It didn’t come down to just one play,” he said. “Even though we could’ve tied it or something if we made a shot, we gotta be better before it gets down to a play like that.”

Before the terrible ending to the closest game of the semifinal series, Durham had brought the Bolts back from wasting an 11-point third quarter and trailing 11 early in the fourth by mauling TNT defenders on the post.

But Durham encountered some trouble on the boards, with TNT counterpart KJ McDaniels scoring off follow-up dunks. McDaniels later scored a key putback over the shoulders of Durham to make it 100-97 with less than a minute remaining.

McDaniels didn’t have a scoring output like he had in Game 2 when he made 51 in a losing effort, but the locals made their presence felt this time.

Troy Rosario made 25 points, Roger Pogoy, who felt like bad karma for pinching Baser Amer several times led to a scoreless showing in Game 2, had 15 while Castro put up 17.

If that trend continues, TNT has a good chance of appearing in the finals for the second straight conference.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel booked a return trip to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals after finishing off NorthPort in another convincing victory 120-107 in Friday’s fourth game of their semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Justin Brownlee had 36 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists and three steals while four players also scored in double figures as Ginebra won the best-of-five affair for its third title appearance in the last four editions of the season-ending conference.

LA Tenorio waxed hot in the fourth to drop 19 points while dishing out six assists and Stanley Pringle capped off his consistent showing in the series with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three assists.

Japeth Aguilar produced 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists with Scottie Thompson posting a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Ginebra bounced back from dropping a 124-90 decision in Game 1 by winning the last three games by an average margin of 22 points.

“We were able to wear them down with our depth,” said coach Tim Cone. “They came out with a heck of a first game and it was quite frightening how good they can be in that first game and it kinda shook us a bit.

“But we gained our bearings and saw us play what we want to play so it’s good that we don’t have to go to a fifth game. I’m just so happy,” he added.

It will be Cone’s fifth appearance in a title series since he started handling Ginebra before the 2015-16 season.

He also brought Ginebra back to the Governors’ Cup Finals after last year’s bid for a third straight crown ended with a semifinal loss to eventual champion Magnolia.

Ginebra fell short in the first two conferences, losing to Magnolia in the Philippine Cup quarterfinals and falling short against TNT KaTropa in the Commissioner’s Cup semis.

The winningest coach in history of the pro loop will attempt to capture an unprecedented 22nd championship against the winner of the other semifinal series between TNT and Meralco.

TNT holds a 2-1 lead against Meralco going into Saturday’s Game 4 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Game 1 of the best-of-seven title showdown is set on Jan. 8, giving Cone plenty of time to prepare.

Christian Standhardinger and import Michael Qualls played all 48 minutes while Paolo Taha went on a rare scoring explosion in the third but NorthPort couldn’t make a serious comeback to end its Cinderella run in disappointment.

Standhardinger made 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, Qualls scored 25 points and Taha tallied 21 of his 29 in the third.

NorthPort made it this far despite having to win its last two games of the eliminations to clinch the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
The Batang Pier then made history by erasing top seed NLEX’s twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

Midnight, however, finally struck for coach Pido Jarencio’s miracle men as injuries to rookie Robert Bolick earlier in the conference and Sol Mercado and Kevin Ferrer during the series took a huge toll.

The scores:

GINEBRA 120 — Brownlee 36, Aguilar 20, Tenorio 19, Pringle 18, Thompson 14, Slaughter 6, Mariano 4, Chan 3, Dillinger 0.

NORTHPORT 107 — Standhardinger 32, Taha 29, Qualls 25, Anthony 18, Lanete 2, Elorde 1, Cruz 0, King 0, Escoto 0.

Quarters: 32-21; 56-39; 86-75; 120-107.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Russell Westbrook has had his share of big games at Staples Center in front of family and friends. The Houston Rockets All-Star guard had one of the best outings of his career Thursday night.

The Lawndale native and former UCLA standout scored 40 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Rockets rallied for a 122-117 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

“It’s fun to come in here and get a big win, but the win is the main thing,” Westbrook said.

It is the most points Westbrook has scored in 45 NBA games at Staples and his 12th with 30 or more. It is also the 44th 40-point game of his 11-year career, which ties him with Karl Malone for 22nd on the career list.

“When you give so much attention to (James) Harden you forget the other MVP that is on their team,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “You have to respect him and play him the right way. We lost our discipline a lot on him tonight, especially in transition. Once he gets in front of you, you’re not going to catch him, and that happened a lot during the second half.”

Westbrook is the first Rocket other than Harden to have a 40-point game since Kevin Martin scored 45 against Portland on Jan. 5, 2011. He is also the first Houston player besides Harden to have consecutive games with 30 or more points since Jeremy Lin in 2013.

Houston rallied from a large deficit for the second straight game. It was down 16 three minutes into the third quarter before coming back to take the lead at the end of the quarter. The Rockets trailed by 25 on Monday night against San Antonio before winning by two, marking the largest comeback in franchise history.

The Rockets — who have won two of three against the Clippers this season — are 7-6 when trailing by double digits this season.

Westbrook scored 14 points during a wild fourth quarter that saw both teams lead by at least six. The Rockets led by three at the start of the quarter before extending it to 101-89. Los Angeles went on a spurt of its own to lead 113-107 with 4:29 left. The Rockets closed on a 15-4 run to snap the Clippers’ 10-game home winning streak.

Harden scored nine of his 28 points during the final six minutes, including a 3-pointer with 2:57 remaining to put the Rockets up for good at 116-113.

“We kept plugging and the difference in the final 3 minutes was that James hit a few daggers and took his game to a higher level,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “(PJ Tucker’s) defense on (Kawhi) Leonard was unbelievable and Russ was really good out there all night.”

Paul George led the Clippers with 34 points and Leonard added 25. Los Angeles shot 56.7% from the field during the first half (27 of 48) but made just 41% (16 of 39) over the final 24 minutes.

Clippers guard Patrick Beverley had yet another tense night against Westbrook and was ejected with 2:52 remaining after receiving his second technical. Westbrook was also given a technical for taunting Beverley as he left the floor.

“We had a chance to knock them out and we didn’t,” Rivers said. “In the fourth quarter our problem was more of our composure. I just thought we lost it as a team. It happens. It shouldn’t, but this is a good learning lesson for us.”

The Clippers led by 15 at halftime and extended their lead to 77-61 three minutes into the third quarter before the Rockets went on a 14-2 run. They scored nine of the last 10 points in the period to lead 90-87 going into the fourth.

“We lost that aggression in the third quarter that we started the game with and that was it,” George said. “Russ made some big shots when James was struggling and he was ultra aggressive.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Waylon Galvez

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez Friday announced that the 10th ASEAN Paragames the country is hosting will be rescheduled to March from its original date of January 18 to 25 next year.

The change, the PSC chief said, was made due to funding constraints and logistical considerations.

The government sports agency has already informed Philippine Paralympic Committee president Michael Barredo of the decision. PSC commissioner Arnold Agustin has been tasked to finalize everything about the rescheduling of the event.

“I have delegated the matter to commissioner Arnold Agustin,” said Ramirez Friday.

The Paragames is a twin-event of the Southeast Asian Games, which the country successfully hosted last Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

In a statement issued by the PPC, Barredo acknowledged the PSC’s decision, saying: “While we have made every effort to prepare the Games in the past one and a half years, matters well beyond our control are compelling us to reschedule the event.”

He added that they are looking to reset it for March next year “to be able to have enough time for financial and logistical matters to be settled.”

The PPC has endorsed the said change to the ASEAN Para Sports Federation. They have also requested the PSC to communicate with their ASEAN counterparts so respective ministers can assist their NPCs on the said move.

Team Philippines bagged the overall SEAG title for the first time in 14 years.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

TOKYO — Tokyo Olympic organizers said Friday they are spending 1.35 trillion Japanese yen — about $12.6 billion — to stage next year’s games.

Organizers said the expenditure is unchanged from a year ago, although robust sponsorship and ticket sales have generated a contingency fund of an extra $30 million.

However, Japan’s National Audit Board, in a 177-page report prepared for the national legislature, said next year’s Olympics will cost much more than organizers say.

The audit lists an added $9.7 billion (1.06 trillion yen) it says are Olympic-related costs that have not been included.

In addition, the city of Tokyo has previously said it would spend another $7.4 billion (810 trillion yen) on Olympic-related projects. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at the time the spending was “for projects directly and indirectly related to the games.”

She said this included building barrier-free facilities for Paralympic athletes, training programs for volunteers, and advertising and tourism plans.

Organizers argue that many of these costs are not tied directly to the Olympics.

The audit board, however, came up with similar findings a year ago.

“As in the previous year, their report did not classify the cost of these items and activities based on their direct relevance to the games,” Tokyo organizers said in a statement to the Associated Press. “It aggregated a wide range of projects that could be seen as contributing to the games, including those that were implemented without regard to the games.”

The respected Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei and the daily Asahi also calculated Olympic costs. They said spending was far above what organizers contend. They also placed overall spending at about 3 trillion yen, or about $28 billion.

The audit board report urged more transparency.

“In order to disclose information to the public and gain their understanding about operations that the government should shoulder, the government Olympic and Paralympic office should disclose more by grasping the overall picture of the operations and costs,” the audit said.

The only non-public money being spent to fund the Olympics is from the privately funded, $5.6 billion operating budget. Revenue for this budget comes from sponsorships, ticket sales, and marketing — and from a contribution from the International Olympic Committee.

The rest is taxpayer money from the national government, the city of Tokyo, and other government bodies.

When Tokyo was awarded the Olympics in 2013, the bid committee projected total costs would be $7.3 billion.

Organizers also reported this week that demand in Japan for Olympic tickets is about 20 times over supply. This has led to criticism on social media by Japanese upset they cannot get tickets to an Olympics they are funding through their taxes.

Tracking Olympic costs is always disputed amid arguments over what are — and what are not — Olympic expenditures. The IOC and local organizers usually claim a lower figure. In fact, the IOC has repeatedly emphasized how it has cut billions in Tokyo by having organizers use existing venues, or build temporary venues.

The Tokyo Olympics open on July 24 and close Aug. 9. They are followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 25 through Sept. 6.

The International Olympic Committee has been criticized for the rising costs of the Olympics, and the perception it forces host cities to build “white elephant” sports venues. In the last several years it has tried to re-brand itself, emphasizing the use of existing venues and giving host cities choices in how they organize.

In a study on Olympic spending done in 2016 by the University of Oxford, author Bent Flyvbjerg explained the Olympics and cost overruns.

“It’s the most amazing thing that the Olympic games are the only type of mega-project to always exceed their budget,” Flyvbjerg said in an interview.

“We think it’s because they always have to be on time. There’s no way you can move the opening dates. … So all you can do when problems begin — and problems always begin on projects of this size — it to throw more money at the project. And that’s what you do at the Olympics.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

The Toronto Raptors will be without Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Norman Powell indefinitely after all three were injured in Detroit on Wednesday night.

The team announced the diagnoses Thursday. Siakam hurt his groin during an awkward landing late in the fourth quarter of Toronto’s win.

Gasol strained his left hamstring in the first quarter, and Powell left in the fourth after a collision with another player. The team said testing in Toronto revealed a subluxation of his left shoulder.

Siakam leads the Raptors with 25.1 points per game.

Toronto hosts the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh were named Thursday in a star-studded list of nominees for entry into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Between them, Bryant, Duncan, Garnett and Bosh, amassed 13 NBA titles, four NBA regular season MVP, five NBA finals MVP awards and 59 All-Star game appearances.

The quartet was named on a 50-strong list of players and coaches which will be whittled down to around a dozen names during the All-Star Weekend in Chicago on February 14-16.

Bosh, whose career was cut short in 2016 after problems with blood clots, said he was honored by the nomination.

“My career ended earlier than expected and that hurt immensely,” the former Miami star said. “To come to this point being nominated for the Hall of Fame with my heroes is truly an amazing feeling.”

The final picks for enshrinement will be revealed during college basketball’s Final Four championship in Atlanta in April.

Other first timers nominated this year include Shawn Marion, Buck Williams, Mark Eaton and Michael Finley.

The list also includes several players who have been nominated before but who have yet to earn enough votes for entry, including Tim Hardaway, Richard Hamilton, Chris Webber and Ben Wallace.

Coaching nominees meanwhile include Rick Adelman, George Karl, Dick Motta and Rudy Tomjanovich.

Women’s nominations feature three-time WNBA champion Swin Cash and 2012 WNBA Finals MVP Tamika Catchings, as well as trailblazing San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon.

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

LONDON — Rafael Nadal won his second consecutive Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and third overall Thursday, based on voting by other players, while Andy Murray was chosen the ATP’s 2019 comeback player of the year.

Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1, said in January he thought he would retire this season because of a bad hip. But he wound up having a second operation and returned to the tour, winning a singles title and a doubles title.

Other honorees from the men’s tour included U.S. Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini, chosen as most improved player after rising to No. 8 in the rankings from No. 54; 18-year-old Jannik Sinner, picked as newcomer of the year; and Gilles Cervara, who earned coach of the year honors after helping Daniil Medvedev reach nine finals, including a runner-up finish to Nadal at Flushing Meadows.

Kevin Anderson received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award.

The International Tennis Federation also announced its year-end awards Thursday, with year-end No. 1s Nadal and Ash Barty named ITF World Champions.

It’s Nadal’s fourth selection, Barty’s first.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Ukrainian weightlifter Oleksiy Torokhtiy has been stripped of the gold medal he won at the 2012 Olympics and banned for doping.

The International Olympic Committee said Thursday that the Ukrainian tested positive for the banned steroid turinabol when his sample from the 2012 London Games was retested using modern methods.

Torokhtiy gets a two-year ban backdated to start from December 2018, when the International Weightlifting Federation first announced he was under suspicion and placed him on provisional suspension. Torokhtiy is the fifth weightlifting gold medalist from the London Games to test positive.

Iranian lifter Navab Nasirshelal is in line to inherit Torokhtiy’s gold in the men’s 105-kilogram category, but reallocating the medals still needs to be ratified by the IOC.

Poland’s Bartolomiej Bonk could be upgraded from bronze to silver, but another open doping case makes the bronze medal position an open question.

The original fourth-place finisher, Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Nurudinov is under investigation after testing positive for the same steroid as Torokhtiy, so the medal could end up with another Uzbek, fifth-placed Ivan Efremov.

Torokhtiy stopped competing after the 2012 Olympics, but the doping case has disrupted his prolific career as a sports official.

Torokhtiy was previously vice-president of the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation and also held roles with the European Weightlifting Federation and the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. The doping ban means he’s barred from holding any posts in sports bodies.

Since the IOC decision in 2016 to start retesting samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, more than 50 weightlifters have been disqualified after testing positive for banned steroids.

The IOC had said weightlifting’s presence at future Olympics was under threat because of its vast steroid problem. However, the IOC backed down in March after the IWF promised to introduce stricter drug testing.

Source: Manila Bulletin