Defending champions De La Salle University are looking to get back on its winning ways after suffering its first scar at the hands of the University of the East in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.After tasting the first beating of the tournament, the Green Archers seek a turnaround when they face winless Far Eastern University on Wednesday afternoon, September 25, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Philippines will host the 2024 Southeast Asian Open Short Track Speed Skating Trophy slated September 28 to 29 that will take place at the SM Skating Mall of Asia in Pasay City.About 90 skaters from 10 countries are expected to take part in the two-day skatefest, which will open for Junior F category, that range from 8 years old and below, and Senior class 19 and above or range from 6 to 24 years old.This is the country’s second time hosting the SEA event, with the primary goal of enhancing competition accessibility and promoting sport’s growth not only in the Philippines but also within Southeast Asia.The countries that will be participating include Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Mongolia, Singapore, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and the host Philippines.

University of the East pulled off a shocker when they defeated the defending champion, De La Salle Green Archers, 75-71, in the UAAP’s 87th Season at the Mall of Asia Arena.The Red Warriors also gave La Salle its first loss of the season in front of the 6,946 spectators inside the arena who also witnessed them shoot an astonishing 12-of-30 from downtown.John Abate led the Recto side with a career game of 20 points while firing a perfect 3-of-3 from the arc, also grabbing four boards, and sinking two-pressure packed free throws with 3.4 seconds left to complete the upset.Wello Lingolingo had 18 points built on six triples, Gjerard Wilson contributed 10 points, three rebounds, three steals, and two assists, and Precious Momowei produced only five markers but hauled 12 boards.

The PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup quarter final round begins on Wednesday, September 28, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium with interesting pairings of the best-of-five series.

Rubilen Amit concluded her campaign after finishing third in the 2024 World Pool Association (WPA) 9-Ball China Open in Shanghai over the weekend.Amit, who recently reigned supreme in the WPA World Women’s 9-Ball Championship, managed to reach the semifinals, seeking to add another crown in her collection, but eventually bowed out to China’s Han Yu, 9-3.The hometown bet was just too tough as the Chinese went on to win their bout and eventually claimed the win against compatriot Wang Xiaotong for a $36,000 win.Prior to her semifinals defeat, Amit prevailed over Bojana Sarac of Serbia (7-5), Silviana Lu of Indonesia (72), veteran Jasmin Ouschan of Austria (9-3), and Chihiro Kawahara of Japan (9-5) in the earlier rounds. Chezka Centeno, on the other hand, absorbed a 9-8 loss against Chieh-Yu Chou in the Round of 16. Carlos Biado and Jeffrey de Luna also withdrew from the men’s competition. 

The Filipina woodpushers made a historic mark for the Philippines after winning the gold medal in Group B and finishing 24th overall in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad women’s division in Budapest, Hungary. The Philippine women’s team wrapped up their campaign with Shania Mae Mendoza, Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda, and Ruelle Canino succeeding across all boards to grasp a 4-0 victory against the Brazilians in their final assignment.The Filipinas tied for 22nd place with 14 match points along with 14 other countries and 24th overall after tiebreaks were applied, clinching the first gold for the country in an Olympiad since 2006 Turin edition when the Philippine women’s squad of Sheerie Joey Lomibao, Catherine Pereña, Sherily Cua, and Beverly Mendoza ruled Group C. It was also the best finish since the team of Girme Fontanilla, Mila Emperado, and Ma. Cristina Santos-Fidaer placed 22nd overall in the 1988 edition in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The Blackwater Bossing exits the PBA Season 49 Governors Cup with their heads held high as they defeated the top team in their group, Rain or Shine, 113-118, on Monday, September 23, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.George King led Blackwater with his 64 points — the franchise record for most points. He was 18-of-35 from the field — 3-of-8 from four point area, 2-of-5 from the rainbow arc, and 13-of-22 from twos.King also set another franchise record by shooting 20-of-20 from the free throw line, which also tied the second all-time most foul shots made without a miss in a single game that Wes Matthews first recorded in 1991.

University of the Philippines reclaimed its winning ways after fending off Far Eastern University, 82-77, in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday, September 22, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.The win improved the Fighting Maroons’ record to a 2-2 slate, putting them tied with Ateneo de Manila University for the fourth spot in the standings.

While the quarterfinals cast is already complete for the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, the game between Converge and Magnolia on September 23 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium will determine the final match-ups in the playoffs.The two teams are now tied with 5-4 slate, and the winner of their 5:00 pm game will determine which squad will be the No. 3 seed in the next round and will face Group B’s No. 2 seed, San Miguel Beermen in a best-of-five series.Meanwhile, the loser of the match will face the top-seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

Finally, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters solved the mystery on how to defeat the mighty San Miguel Beermen as they scored a 122-112 victory on Thursday night and gained a solo lead in Group B of the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Now having a 7-2 record, ROS relied heavily on import Aaron Fuller and Beau Belga to solve the puzzle by limiting June Mar Fajardo's efficiency.

In 2016, Janine Nicandro shocked the basketball-crazy Filipino nation as she became the first female referee to officiate pay-for-play games in the Philippine Basketball Association.Janine, known to basketball teams as “Referee #41”, is a proud daughter of Pagsanjan, Laguna.In an exclusive interview with our team, Janine opened up about her referee journey - one that started when she went to Manila together with her bestfriend Marilee, who also became the league’s third-ever lady referee.They decided to explore Manila to get out of their comfort zone and earn a better income.“I went to Manila with Ate Mao (Marilee) Orioste. Then attend training with other female applicants…Ayeez Ceballos, Jill Santiago, Faye Tria, Jane Umali and Ma’am Edith Boticario,” she said.Together with some other female applicants, Nicandro started going to training camps and improving her skills to climb up the ladder of success.She first started in the PBA D-League academy in 2014 before jumping to the pro league after two years.During her first time officiating an official PBA game, she felt different kinds of emotions and feelings.

Lovely Inan added three more medals to the Philippines’ growing collection following her impressive feat in the women’s 49-kilogram event in the ongoing 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Junior Championships in Leon, Spain. Inan topped her event with a total lift of 179kg, surpassing Colombia’s Karoll Dahyanne Lopez Alvarez who tallied a lift of 178kg and Spain’s Lucia Gonzalez Borrego with a total lift of 170kg.The young Filipina athlete also seized gold in clean and jerk on a 100kg effort and nabbed a silver medal in snatch with a 79kg lift.Inan’s impressive victories added to the country’s medal collection following two golds and one silver from Angeline Colonia in the women’s 45kg.Meanwhile, Rose Jean Ramos (women’s 49kg Category B) and Eron Borres and Prince Kiel Delos Santos (men’s 55kg) fell short in their respective events. The Philippines still has a chance to claim more medals with Jodie Peralta set to compete in the women’s 55kg event and Albert Ian Delos Santos in the men’s 67kg division.

Being the number one team in the league right now, the TNT Tropang Giga was expected to dominate the winless Terrafirma but the Stanley Pringle and the Dyip have other plans.Pringle led the bottom team to upset the top team to notch their first win of the tournament, 84-72, on Thursday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.The shifty guard produced 15 of his total 18 points in the fourth quarter including 10 straight that inspired his teammates to give their best until the final buzzer.

Converge is not yet letting go of its original import Scotty Hopson. The FiberXers interim coach Franco Atienza said that they will continue to evaluate the health condition of Hopson especially that they are moving closer to clinching a quarterfinals berth in the PBA Season 49 Governor's Cup.Because of the injury that Hopson suffered that he even played through in the past three games, Converge was forced to change its import and tapped the services of Jalen Jones.Jones proved that he is a worthy replacement import as he produced 32 points and 10 rebounds, and helped the FiberXers in their 105-97 win against Meralco on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Though there's a new reinforcement in town, Hopson still watched the game over at the Converge bench while trying to recuperate from a hurting hip flexor."Right now Scotty is in the injured/reserved list and he's day to day for us," said Atienza of the import who led them to four wins including two historical victories.Hopson became the first player who made a four-point game-winner, not just once but twice. And as of writing, he is the only one who has done the feat."We want to keep him there as an option, so we will continue to evaluate yung prognosis niya."However, Franco gave the 31-year-old Jones an A+ on his PBA debut.

Far Eastern University earned its first win under Raiza Palmera-Dy’s mentoring after denying University of the East’s comeback attempt, 62-52, at the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, September 18.The Lady Tamaraws held their ground despite missing Josee Kaputu, who suffered an ACL tear in her left knee during their game against National University last Saturday.FEU established a pivotal run of 43-21 at halftime courtesy of Maxene Dela Torre, MJ Manguiat, Shane Salvani, and Rea Ong, who combined for eight three-pointers as opposed to UE who missed all of their 11 attempts after grappling with their perimeter shooting. Despite stumbling in the first half, the Lady Warriors pushed through and withstood the might of their opponents in the fourth quarter, propelled through the efforts of Rachel Lacayanga, Dominique Vacalares, Kate Cruz, and Aliyah Ronquillo.It was almost but not quite for UE as their late-game surge proved to be too late when Salvani’s free throws with 13.1 seconds left sealed the victory for FEU. 

University of the Philippines continued its strong campaign in the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament as they demolished National University to record their third straight victory on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.The Fighting Maroons delivered haymakers after another to suffocate the Bulldogs from the beginning and finished the game with an 89-62 victory.An early onslaught by the State U's wards made the people forget that the game was expected to be a close encounter as the two squads had been in the Final Four last season.The game seemed like it was already over in the first half alone as the UP already erected a 31-point lead, 53-22 at the end of it.Same scenario happened in the second half of play as the Fighting Maroons continued their dominance and even reached the peak of their lead at 39 off Harold Alarcon's three-pointer.Mark Belmonte and JD Cagulangan led the domination with their combined 27 points. Belmonte also collared three boards and dished three assists, while Cagulangan had four dimes and two rebounds.On the other side, only Jake Figueroa finished in double-figures with 11 markers for the Bulldogs.

The National University Lady Bulldogs powered its way to a 76-44 victory after clamping the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball tournament on Wednesday, September 18, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.The Lady Bulldogs unleashed a strong third quarter after settling for a tied 41 points at the half-time break, tallying 16 unanswered points for a 62-43 cushion heading into the final frame. The Lady Maroons endured the scoring drought and just managed to basket two points from the free-throw line courtesy of Alex Mendoza and Achrissa Maw.  

After an embarrassing 49-point beating from SMB, Barangay Ginebra bounced back big through a boost by RJ Abarrientos to deliver a 112-96 victory against Phoenix on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Abarrientos produced a career-high 24 points highlighted by a four-pointer and three triples, together with five rebounds and five assists to lead the Gin Kings in clinching a quarterfinals berth.Japeth Aguilar joined the fray by firing 21 points, while Scottie Thompson added 20. Justin Brownlee and Maverick Ahanmisi contributed 13 and 12, respectively to balance the scoring for the crowd-favorite team.Ginebra now has a 6-3 win-loss record, half-game behind the joint leader San Miguel and Rain or Shine which both 6-2 slates.

Alec Stockton came out clutch for Converge, scoring seven of the team’s last nine points in their victory over the Meralco Bolts, 105-97 in the PBA Season 49 Governor’s Cup on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Stockton scored 12 of his 27 points in the payoff period including a big three-pointer in the final two minutes of play to put the FiberXers ahead for good, 99-97.The Fil-Am guard also grabbed 11 rebounds to record a double-double performance and complement the game-high 32 points and 10 rebounds of their new import Jalen Jones, who came in to replace the injured Scotty Hopson.

The Philippines’ stunning momentum came to an abrupt stop as it fell to former world champion Armenia, 2.5-1.5, crashing out of the Top 10 after six rounds of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall in Budapest, Hungary.Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra essayed yet another victory when he sent his second super Grandmaster in Haik Martirosyan to his knees, defeating his Armenian rival with a 63-move win of a Nimzo-Indian on top board. The Philippines’ quest to add another crown in their growing collections was barred when newly minted GM Daniel Quizon, International Master Paulo Bersamina, and GM John Paul Gomez succumbed to their rivals, concluding their games in draws.The stinging result relegated their ranking out of the Top 10. From a share of No. 7, the national men’s team stumbled to a share of No. 21 with eight match points. On the other hand, the Filipinas bounced back after knocking Bolivia, 3-1, with Shania Mae Mendoza, Janelle Mae Frayna, and Jan Jodilyn Fronda posting victories on the top board to take the No. 34 spot with eight points in the team standings. The win pushed the women’s team to a share of 22nd spot with a big group of eight pointers.The Filipino woodpushers will battle 27th-seeded Croatia, while the Filipina team will clash with 26th-seeded Argentina eyeing a win that would keep their hopes contending alive.