The women’s Grand Slam main draw remained elusive for Filipina tennis player Alex Eala after bowing out in the final round of the 2024 US Open qualifiers.Eala fell in the third round of qualifying, blowing a one-set lead against world No. 123 Elena Gabriela Ruse of Romania in three sets,  6-3, 1-6, 4-6.After winning the opening frame, the Filipino prodigy lost steam as the 28-year-old Romanian dominated the second set with a 4-0 start before Eala scored a point but took a medical timeout.The world No. 123 got the better of the 19-year-old Filipino in the end game to enter the US Open main draw against Julia Grabher of Austria in the first round.Eala stayed optimistic despite another close call.

Filipina athlete Islay Erika Bomogao has claimed the top spot in the 45kg elite category of the International Federation of Muaythai Associations.Following her gold-medal victory at last year’s IFMA World Muaythai Championship in Bangkok, Thailand, Bomogao, soared to No. 1 position with a cumulative 1,920 points, amassed from her performances in various international competitions.

Rain or Shine head coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao is elated after the Philippine Supreme Court approved his petition for mandamus calling on the country’s gambling regulators to distribute funds to the country’s sports commission.At the heels of the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association or PSA Forum in Manila, the former Pampanga solon, who is once again leading tactics for the Elasto Painters in the PBA, says he is expecting that the move will generate much-needed funding for the country’s sports programs.

Capital1 reinforcement Marina Tushova claimed her third Player of the Week award in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL), propelled by her record 50 points on Saturday, August 24.The powerful Russian winger delivered 47 attacks, two blocks, and a service ace, to go with 16 excellent receptions and 12 digs.She broke the all-time scoring record for the third time to earn the August 20 to 24 honor given by print and online reporters covering the PVL.Despite being responsible for a big chunk of Capital1’s success, the Solar Spikers failed to advance to the Cignal HD Spikers, 19-25, 34-36, 25-16, 25-22, 12-15, in the knockout quarterfinals of the Reinforced Conference at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan on Saturday, August 24.After her record-breaking performances here in the Philippines and following Capital1’s quarterfinal exit, Tushova is headed to Azerbaijan to play for a club team there.“I already signed a contract with an Azerbaijan team,” Tushova said. “I will join them and until April I will be there. Yes, so it is my plan now. I will go to another country.”Even as she heads to another country and another club this time around, Tushova is also not ruling out a potential return to the PVL. 

Veteran para swimmer Ernie Gawilan and para archer Agustina Bantiloc will carry the Philippine flag during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France on Wednesday, August 28.They will be joined by para track and field athletes Jerrold Mangliwan and Cendy Asusano, para swimmer Angel Mae Otom and para taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin. The parade will take place from the Champs-Elysées to the Place de la Concorde.In a statement, Philippine Paralympic team chef de mission Ral Rosario said that the team had several discussions on who the flag-bearers will be.

PBA Champions San Miguel Beermen and Meralco Bolts will banner the Home-and-Away Season 2 of the EASL season opener on October 2 at the Mall of Asia arena.Reigning PBA Commissioner’s Cup Champions San Miguel will be going against the Korean Basketball League (KBL) runner-up Suwon KT Sonicboom, while Philippine Cup champs Meralco will face the new team Macau Black Bears as the league opens its season on Philippines soil for the very first time.The group stage is scheduled from October 2, 2024 to February 12, 2025. Then, the Final Four championship weekend will be from March 7-9, 2025. Three more playdates will be held in the country.Another double header will be played on November 13 at the PhilSports Arena. It will feature the game between the Beermen against P.League+ runner up Taoyuan Pilots while the Bolts is scheduled to take on KBL’s champion, KCC Egis.On January 15, 2025, SMB will face another new team in Hong Kong Eastern Dragons Arena while Meracl will meet the B. League runner up Ryuku Golden Kings on the 22nd in the same Pasig venue.The EASL participants will be divided into two groups: Group A will be composed of Hiroshima Dragonflies, KT Sonicboom, Taoyuan Pilots, Hong Kong Eastern, and San Miguel Beermen while Group B will have the Ryuku Golden Kings, KCC Egis, New Taipei Kings, Macau Black Bears, and the Meralco Bolts.

Following the success of the recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard Bachmann expressed the agency’s aspiration to further nurture athletes that could bring glory to the country. Bachmann laid out plans to intensify grassroots and to initiate programs in order to bring consciousness to sports that are not usually patronized by youngsters and the general public.

The University of the East joins DLSU and Ateneo as the first three schools which will bag home a UAAP esports title.This, after the UE Zenith Warriors defeated University of Santo Tomas (UST)’s Teletigers Esports Club in a sweeping 2-0 victory on Wednesday at Hyundai Hall, Arete Ateneo in Quezon City. That wrapped up the league's inaugural Esports tournament, where Ateneo earlier ruled the NBA2K24 while De La Salle topped VALORANT.Despite a rocky start in the group stages, UE’s playing coach, Arohn Jen Cabigting, expressed confidence, especially during the championship match.

Eight-time MVP, June Mar Fajardo scored 34 points and grabbed 24 rebounds to lead the way for San Miguel Beermen’s close victory against Phoenix Fuel Masters, 111-107 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday, August 21.‘The Kraken’ might have had a monstrous game but the battle of the two teams was tough especially in the end game where the SMB needed a dagger four-point shot from CJ Perez to have enough cushion in claiming the victory.Phoenix put up a gallant fight and pulled even at 99-all after RJ Jazul made a three-point basket entering the last two minutes of play.Then, JMF grabbed three offensive boards against three Phoenix defenders to start a five-point swing.After a few sequences, the Beermen’s lead was trimmed to one at 105-106 after the three free throws were sunk by Jason Perkins who finished the game with 18 points.Then, Perez dagger 4-ball came into the picture to give SMB some breathing room as it gave them a two-possession lead.At 107-110, the Fuel Masters still had a chance to steal the game when Ricci Rivero tried to score from the 27-foot-line but missed the target. Fajardo closed out the scoring with a split from the free throw line.SMB import Jordan Adams scored 24 points and snared nine rebounds in his PBA debut while Phoenix reinforcement Jayveous McKinnis put up 13.

Scotty Hopson scored 46 points to lead Converge in defeating Terrafirma, 127-95 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday, August 21.Hopson's 46-point explosion was highlighted by his 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and an impressive 75-percent shooting from the field. He also added eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in his statline.Alec Stockton also added 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, while Schonny Winston scored 14 and Justin Arana put up 13 for the FiberXers who posted its largest win in team history.

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala continued her quest for a spot in the US Open main draw as she notched a historic upset to move onto the third round of the qualifiers.World No. 148 Eala overcame No. 99 Nurua Parrizas-Diaz from Spain in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, to keep her hopes alive. Eala now moves on to face 61st-ranked Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania in the third round of the qualifiers on Friday, August 23. The 19-year-old Eala aims to make it to her first Grand Slam main draw after missing the French Open and Wimbledon with stinging setbacks in the qualifying finals. 

Filipino Olympian and pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena finished joint third place in the men’s pole vault at the Lausanne Diamond League athletics event in Switzerland on Wednesday, August 21 (Philippine time).Obiena cleared 5.82 meters in just a single attempt to place third, tied with Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and Kurtis Marshall of Australia, in the tournament which had 11 competitions. Reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 Armand Duplantis of Sweden ruled the event placing first with 6.15 meters followed by Paris silver medalist Sam Kendrick of the United States with 5.92 meters clearance. This is Obiena’s first competition after a narrow podium finish in the Paris Olympics where he placed fourth registering a height of 5.90 meters, but lost the bronze to Emmanouil Karalis of Greece due to a tiebreaker.Obiena is also expected to compete in the Silesia leg of the Diamond League on August 25.

Filipina Olympic fencer Samatha Kyle Catantan needs no worries as St. Luke’s Global City waived her hospital bill and even the doctor’s fee after the successful operation of her knee due to ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.According to Dr. Jose Raul Canlas, the gesture of the hospital was to honor the Olympian’s contribution to Philippine sports.

Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Lee Van Corteza, and three other Filipino cuemasters moved one win away from the knockout of the US Open 9-Ball Championships held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.Biado, who dominated the tournament in 2021, had a first round bye, before making an easy work of American Robert Hart, 9-1. He is set to compete with Great Britain’s Chris Melling for an automatic spot in the 64-man knockout round. Chua kept the form that earned him a runner-up finish in last week’s European Open by trouncing Vietnamese Dang Than Kien, 9-1, in the second round of the eliminations after his own opening round bye. He will next play against Liu Ri Teng of Chinese Taipei.Corteza, a runner-up in the 2013 US Open, overcame American Mike Dechaine (9-7) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang (9-4) for a third round match against Japanese Naoyuki Oi. Other Filipinos who will vie for the slot in the knockout round are Jeffrey Roda, Jeffrey Ignacio and Michael Baoanan. Roda was equally impressive with big wins over Elias Patrkios, 9-1, and Englishman Darren Appleton, 9-2, to challenge former world No. 1 Joshua Filler of Germany.Ignacio faces Alexander Kazakis of Greece, while Boanan will meet Italian Francesco Candelo with their bids of entering the last 64.Eight more Filipinos led by Bernie Regalario and Ronald Garcia, on the other hand, are in the Losers Bracket where they need to win two more matches to advance.The US Open Championship will feature a 256-player field on the World Nineball Tour. The tournament will begin with a seeded double elimination format, featuring the top 128 World Nineball Tour players. From there, only 64 players will advance to the single elimination rounds.

Capital1 ended the preliminaries of the 2024 Premier League Volleyball (PVL) Reinforced Conference on a high note after drubbing Galeries Towerson Tuesday, August 20, at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.The Solar Spikers morphed into a legitimate contender in the PVL after winning against the Highrisers in four sets, 25-13, 26-28, 25-22, 25-21.

Defending Governors’ Champion TNT Tropang Giga started their title-defense campaign with a win when they defeated NorthPort Batang Pier 101-95 on August 19 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.Rondae Hollis-Jefferson tallied a double-double, scoring 32 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He even added his good game w0ith five assists, four steals and four blocks to lead the opening win of TNT in Group A.Calvin Oftana led the Tropang Giga locals in scoring by tallying 15 including 2-of-2 from the four-point line. Oftana was the first player to make two four-point shots in a single game. Meralco’s Chris Banchero was the first one to hit the 27-footer followed by his teammate Jolo Mendoza, then Paul Lee of Magnolia and fourth belongs to Calvin Oftana.TNT’s new acquisition from off-season trade, Rey Nambatac produced 13 points including two crucial free throws while Poy Erram, who returned from long layoff due to injury added eight markers.On the other hand, NorthPort’s reinforcement Taylor Johns almost tallied a triple-double by scoring 36 points, grabbing 16 boards and dishing off nine assists.Arvin Tolentino added 23 for the Batang Pier including the four-ball with 24.6 seconds left to push their team closer to TNT’s lead, 99-94.A backcourt violation of the Tropang Giga gave the Batang Pier a chance to trim the lead even further. However, TNT forced Northport to a shot clock violation that sealed the game for the defending champions.