By Jonas Terrado

Coach Mark Dickel admitted having a hard time picking the 12 players who will suit up for Gilas Pilipinas’ match against Indonesia in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers this Sunday in Jakarta.

Dickel and his coaching staff elected to go with seven PBA players and five amateurs in a mix of youth and experience they hope can give Gilas a promising start in its bid to secure a berth in next year’s continental competition.

Kiefer Ravena, CJ Perez, Roger Pogoy, Troy Rosario and Poy Erram, members of last year’s FIBA World Cup team, fellow pros Abu Tratter, Justin Chua and amateurs Thirdy Ravena, Isaac Go, Matt Nieto, Juan Gomez de Liano and Dwight Ramos were chosen to suit up for the Indonesia match.

Javee Mocon ended up as what Dickel described as the “unlucky PBA player” that didn’t make the Final 12 as the team opted to go with Thirdy Ravena and Ramos who the coaching staff felt are capable of covering up the small forward position.

Mocon, Jaydee Tungcab and Rey Suerte were named as reserves.

“We felt that the PBA players that we picked gave us a really, really good base to build off. And then, the other four or five younger players can complement them. So, that was the decision that was made,” Dickel said after Wednesday’s announcement of the final roster.

“That’s why we made it, we feel this will give us the best chance in this window to do well. The bigs we picked in Poy, Abu, Isaac, Justin and Troy, we feel they can give us the help we need in the position, the four, the five,” he added. “Javee ended up being the unlucky PBA player, that through no fault of his own. We felt we just had it covered with Dwight and with Thirdy at that position.”

Gilas will play an Indonesian side that won’t be having naturalization candidate and former PBA import Lester Prosper for this window.

Indonesia coach Rajko Toroman selected veteran Arki Wisnu, Derrick Michael Xzavierro, Harianus Lakudu, Kaleb Rambot Gemilang, Abraham Grahita, Andakara Prastawa, Laurentius Steven Oei, Kevin Sitorus, Muhamad Noor, Vincent Kosashi, Mei Joni and Muhammad Wicaksono for the South Korea match.

The Indonesians have an option to make changes for Sunday’s match with the Philippines.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Nick Giongco

Japanese champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue has signed up two Filipino fighters to serve as his sparring partners as he gets ready to face Filipino pride John Riel Casimero in their unification bantamweight clash on April 25 in Las Vegas.

Since Feb. 14, ALA Boxing Club-Cebu stablemates Kevin Jake Cataraja and Prince Albert Pagara have been banging bodies with Inoue at the Ohashi Boxing Gym in Yokohama.

Just this Tuesday, Cataraja and Inoue went at it and the 24-year-old Cataraja, a natural super-flyweight (115 lbs) said he bloodied his fancied sparmate’s nose.

But Cataraja, who holds an 11-0 card with nine KOs, paid dearly for his show of bravado.

“I have been aching all over,” said Cataraja, originally from Cebu City, said in Filipino to the Manila Bulletin.

To ease the pain, Cataraja said he had to take a pain reliever shortly after to minimize the discomfort.
“Inoue punches really hard. When he lands, you feel it.”

The 26-year-old Pagara, who has a 32-1 slate with 23 KOs, seems to handle the bruising and intense sessions much better.

Besides, Pagara is a super-bantamweight (122 lbs), which is above Inoue’s division of 118 lbs.

Still, Pagara doesn’t deny the punching power of Inoue, who holds the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation crowns.

“He (Inoue) hits as though he fights in my division,” said Pagara, who is originally from Maasin, Southern Leyte, also told the paper in Pilipino.

One time, Pagara said he almost went down from a shot to the body.

“I thought I was going to go down but I told myself not to hit the floor,” said Pagara, who feels Inoue “is probably scared to get hit by Casimero.”

“Maybe, after watching Casimero knocked out Zolani Tete, he told himself that I don’t want to get hit that’s why he is training hard,” said Pagara, referring to how Casimero mauled the elusive South African in winning the World Boxing Organization title last year in Birmingham, England.

“Inoue is training like Manny Pacquiao. He works very hard in the gym aside from training like hell in the morning,” added Pagara.

The opportunity to travel to Japan and stay there for a month with allowances and pay is a blessing for Cataraja and Pagara, who haven’t been in action since last year.

“Inoue’s people treat us very well and I will gain lots of experience from sparring with him,” said Cataraja, who is in his third stint as Inoue’s sparmate.

“We have no issues and it’s great to be here and dining on Japanese food. I love ramen so much,” said Pagara, who had served previously as a sparring partner of the feared Japanese.

Pagara echoes Cataraja’s observations but goes a bit further.

“From now on, I will no longer fear anyone in the ring because I sparred with the Monster. Once you get into the ring with Inoue, you’ll never get scared again fighting anyone.”

As to who’s going to win the fight, Cataraja and Pagara are on the same page.

“Whoever hits first will win it,” said Pagara, who remembered sparring with Casimero in 2018.

“Both are very strong and if there’s one sure thing about this fight, it’s going to be a slugfest. I can’t wait to watch it,” said Pagara.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Nick Giongco

The Philippine Judo Federation (PJF) is muscling and bruising its way to sending more than just a lone qualifier to the Tokyo Olympics, the governing body’s leadership said Thursday.

Aside from Kiyomi Watanabe, who is almost a cinch in securing a spot to Tokyo 2020, PJF president Dave Carter said as much as three others are waiting on the wings of qualification.

The Cebu-born Watanabe, a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games silver medalist, is rated 27th in the world and only needs to stay active in the next four months to formalize her inclusion.

Carter said Watanabe is doing just that and is currently in Dusseldorf, Germany, for a Grand Slam event followed by another GS event in Ekaterinburg in Russia in March and an appearance in the Asian championships in Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia

Others in the hunt for Tokyo berths include the Nakano brothers Shugen and Keisei as well as Maria Takahashi, who can make it via the continental qualifiers.

Once Watanabe books a Tokyo slot, she will set up camp at Waseda University until the Olympics gets going on July 24 until Aug. 9.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has destroyed the Tokyo Olympic dreams of some Chinese athletes and disrupted the preparations of others, forcing them to miss tournaments and train in strict isolation — sometimes in masks.

Games organizers are adamant that the outbreak, which is centered on the Chinese city of Wuhan and has killed more than 2,100 people, will not derail one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar.

But it is likely to compromise the performance of the Chinese team, which numbered 416 at the Rio 2016 Games and has been top three on the medals table at every Olympics this century.

There are no known cases among Chinese competitors, but the virus outbreak coincides with a critical stage in their build-up to the Olympics, which begin on July 24.

In one stark example, China’s women’s football team resorted to doing stretching exercises in the corridor of a Brisbane hotel after they were quarantined ahead of an Olympic qualifying tournament.

China hopes that rival countries will open their doors to its athletes to compete in qualifiers as some nations, including Australia, have issued strict restrictions on arrivals from China.

“There will be over 100 Olympic qualifying tournaments around the world between February and April,” said Liu Guoyong, vice-president of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), according to the Xinhua news agency.

“The IOC has asked various international sports federations to provide all possible assistance and convenience to Chinese athletes.”

Dreams over

Despite their disrupted build-up and missing star player Wang Shuang — who was not allowed to leave her home city of Wuhan, and was videoed training alone on a rooftop while wearing a mask — China’s women’s football team managed two wins and a draw in Australia.

They will face South Korea over two legs for a spot in Tokyo, but the “home” match will need to take place abroad.

The Olympic qualifying tournament was moved from Wuhan at short notice because of the virus, which has obliterated China’s sporting calendar and forced hundreds of millions of people indoors to stop it spreading.

At least the women’s football team’s Tokyo hopes are still alive.

The women’s handball team’s campaign ended when they withdrew from a qualifying tournament in Hungary next month, saying they could not organize training in the face of the deadly virus.

China was also forced out of a World Cup gymnastics meeting in Melbourne — which offers qualifying points for Tokyo — because of travel restrictions.

Olympic qualifying tournaments in boxing, basketball and sailing have all been moved out of China.

China topped the medals table when it hosted the 2008 Olympics, but fell to third, behind the United States and Britain, at Rio 2016.

Tokyo was supposed to be the Games when China — spearheaded by decorated swimmer Sun Yang, who is awaiting a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling over a missed drugs test — strikes back.

‘Nobody can get out’

Liu, of China’s Olympic committee, is confident that athletes will be able to prepare properly for Tokyo and state media has painted an image of them gamely ploughing on with their training routines.

But the all-powerful badminton and table tennis squads have decamped to Britain and Qatar respectively, while the judo team missed the Paris Grand Slam in a blow to their Olympic build-up.

China has ordered its teams at home and abroad to train behind closed doors to guard against the virus.

“Unless there is an emergency, nobody can come onto the base and nobody can get out,” Cao Zhongrong, coach of China’s modern pentathlon team, told local media by telephone.

The pentathletes have been holed up at a Beijing university but were to fly out to Egypt this week, and after that will continue their Olympic preparations in Europe.

The squad is not allowed to use an athletics track and field because they are outside the self-imposed exclusion area. They run on treadmills instead.

Team members have their temperatures checked repeatedly through the day and have to wear a mask while equestrian training.

“I treat this as a special training under hypoxic (deprived of oxygen) conditions in special times,” Luo Shuai, who has already qualified for Tokyo, said.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Game Sunday
(Sta. Rosa, Laguna)
7:30 p.m. — Alab Pilipinas vs Saigon

Justin Brownlee’s much-anticipated debut will have to wait a little longer after missing San Miguel Alab Pilipinas’ 92-80 loss to the Kuala Lumpur Dragons on Wednesday in the ASEAN Basketball League at MABA Stadium.

Brownlee failed to make the flight to the Malaysian capital, leaving a shorthanded Alab side that dropped to 9-6 after another lopsided defeat to the Dragons.

The multi-time PBA champion import, who replaced Prince Williams over the weekend, is expected to suit up Sunday when Alab hosts the last place Saigon Heat at the City of Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna.

Import Will Artino had 29 points and 10 rebounds to once again lead Kuala Lumpur’s dominance of Alab in the game where the home side led by a high of 27 points.

Fellow reinforcement Terrel Davis added 26 points and 10 assists for the Dragons, who two weeks ago produced a 91-63 win over Alab on the same floor.

It was another rough night for the Philippine side as Alab dropped to 5-5 in the last 10 games.

Alab, however, remains in second place behind Thailand’s Mono Vampire which carries a 12-4 record.

Nick King topscored for Alab with 29 points, but majority of his output came late when the outcome was already settled.

Fil-Australian Jordan Heading added 26 points and six rebounds but there was little contributions from the rest of the squad.

The scores:

KUALA LUMPUR 92 — Artino 29, Davis 26, Bell 11, Lepichev 11, Ting 7, Chin 4, Tem 3, Loh 1, Wong 0, Tan 0.

ALAB PILIPINAS 80 — King 28, Heading 26, Domingo 6, Caracut 5, Brickman 4, Deguara 4, Vigil 3, Gray 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Rangel 0.

Quarters: 23-12; 46-32; 77-55; 92-80.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Nick Giongco

Filipino challenger Jeo Santisima finally came face-to-face with Mexican defending champion Emanuel Navarrete on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) just days before their battle for the World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight crown.

During the formal grand arrivals at the MGM Grand, site of their showdown, Top Rank gave each of them their time to shine with separate entrances.

Shortly after, they were told to pose for the cameras and engage in a staredown.

Navarrete, making the fifth defense of the WBO 122-lb throne was cool, calm and collected.

Santisima (19-2 with 16 KOs), a first-timer in the US looked jittery and embarrassed.

Navarrete (30-1 with 26 KOs) is a massive 50-1 favorite to repulse Santisima’s challenge.

One of Navarrete’s title defense victims is Flash Elorde’s grandson Juan Miguel Elorde, who lasted four rounds in his bold bid to attempt and wrest the title from Navarrete last year.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Waylon Galvez

After calling off games in various sports due to the coronavirus disease, the NCAA Management Committee is looking at March 16 as target date to resume the remaining matches and events for Season 95.

In a meeting Wednesday, the MANCOM chaired by Peter Cayco of host school Arellano University made its proposal to the league’s Policy Board to resume the games on nine events.

These events are indoor volleyball, football, lawn tennis, soft tennis and girls’ volleyball on March 16, track and field on March 16 to 21, 15-under basketball on April 25 and beach volleyball on April 29.

The league’s Cheerleading Competition will be held as scheduled on March 30.

“This is subject to the approval of our Policy Board. Our recommendation is to resume on March 16,” said Cayco after the MANCOM meeting at the Bayleaf Hotel.

“The Cheerleading Competition shall be held as scheduled on March 30, but without the awarding of the Overall Championship because there are still two events,” he added.

The NCAA decided last Feb. 13 to postpone all events in senior’s division after the Commission of Higher Education issued a directive to “avoid attending, participating in, and organizing events that draw a huge number of attendees” due to the COVID-19.

The league had suspected games in the junior’s division last Feb. 6 following a similar order from the Department of Education.

In deciding to resume the games, Cayco said that parties were checked.

“Part of our decision is the consultation with CHED, DepEd, and DOH, and together with the school physicians whether it’s safe to push through with our schedules and they’re ok with it,” said Cayco.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Gilas Pilipinas will have seven PBA players and five amateurs for its 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers away match against Indonesia this Sunday in Jakarta.

Coach Mark Dickel named team captain Kiefer Ravena, CJ Perez, Poy Erram, Abu Tratter, Justin Chua, Roger Pogoy, Troy Rosario, Thirdy Ravena, Matt Nieto, Isaac Go, Juan Gomez de Liano and Dwight Ramos to the roster that will have a mixture of youth and experience.

Javee Mocon was the lone pro cager left out of the 12-man lineup but was included as a reserve along with Jaydee Tungcab and Rey Suerte.

“That was a difficult decision to make,” Dickel said after Wednesday’s practice, explaining the reason for Mocon’s non-inclusion. “But we felt like we just had cover with both Thirdy and with Dwight there kinda playing the same position.”

Our #GilasPilipinas Men’s Team versus Indonesia for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier game this February 23 ! #LabanPilipinas #ParaSaBayan #SBP pic.twitter.com/FKKZ6V91AA

— SBP (@officialSBPinc) February 19, 2020

Chua, Nieto, Go, De Liano and Ramos will make their first major appearance for the national team as Gilas hopes to prevail in the match to be held at the Mahaka Arena in the Indonesian capital.

Kiefer Ravena, Perez, Erram, Tratter, Pogoy and Rosario, on the other hand, will bring their combined experiences in the major FIBA competitions and Southeast Asian Games which should play a role in Gilas’ quest to beat Indonesia.

Dickel said that Gilas will hold two more practices before leaving for Jakarta Friday evening.

Gilas held scrimmages during Wednesday’s practice as the team continues to fine-tune its system before facing Indonesia

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Kristel Satumbaga

F2 Logistics veteran spiker Aby Maraño believes they have unfinished business to settle when the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix fires off  Feb. 29 at The Arena in San Juan City.

The memory of last season’s runner-up finish to the Petron Blaze Spikers still haunts the Cargo Movers, and they are determined to do whatever it takes to reverse their fortune this time around.

“Hindi kami nagti-training para yun lang ang goal namin,” said Maraño of their second place finish.

“May mission kami na hindi natapos, kaya yung mindset namin ngayon is i-own talaga namin itong season na ito.”

Maraño said their intact lineup will be their advantage as most teams, including defending champion Petron Blaze Spikers, have revamped.

Coached by multi-titled mentor Ramil De Jesus, the Cargo Movers will be parading Kalei Mau, Ara Galang, libero Dawn Macandili, Kim Fajardo, Kim Dy, Desiree Cheng and Majoy Baron.

Reinforcing the lineup will be two-time Most Valuable Player Lindsay Stalzer.

“We’re making sure na magiging effective kami during play,” Maraño said.

Completing the roster are Des Clemente, Alex Cabaños, Michelle Morente and Rovena Instrella.

The Cargo Movers open their campaign on March 3 against the PLDT Home Fibr Hitters.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

LA Tenorio is not dwelling on the situation surrounding Greg Slaughter’s decision to take a break from basketball, adding that his absence can also open things up for other Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players.

“Hindi namin pwedeng problemahin yan the whole conference diba? Kung wala siya, we just have to move on,” Tenorio said after Ginebra began its preparation for the season-opening PBA Philippine Cup at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Ortigas.

Slaughter was, of course, nowhere as Ginebra tries to deal with life minus the 7-foot center who more than a week ago announced his decision to go on a sabbatical.

Coach Tim Cone, who the previous week bared his plans to meet Slaughter and discuss the matter, refrained from making any comments after practice. It is unknown whether the two had even talked.

Tenorio declined to discuss the Slaughter decision, only saying that he respects Slaughter’s decision.

“Personally, I respect Greg’s decision so kung ano decision niya o kung ano mangyayari sa buhay niya, it’s not my business,” said Tenorio.

But Tenorio was able to find a silver lining on the situation, especially with how it can help Japeth Aguilar prosper even more following an MVP performance in last month’s PBA Governors’ Cup Finals win over Meralco.

Tenorio even went the full route to express confidence in Aguilar’s readiness to produce a season to remember.

“For us, it is the time for Japeth to really be the leader, yung maging main man na matagl na namin hinahanap sa kanya,” he said before making a bold declaration.

“Siguro set up din to for Japeth to really soar high this coming season. I think this is the MVP season for Japeth, and I’m expecting that from him after the last conference he showed,” Tenorio added.

Aguilar admitted that high expectations will be tough to meet, but it also willing to take on the challenge.

“Kailangan harapin kung ano role ko sa All-Filipino Conference, and may tiwala naman ako sa coaching staff dahil may pinaplano na siguro sila,” Aguilar said. “Basta kailangan lang maging ready not only me, but kaming lahat sa team.”

Source: Manila Bulletin