One of the country’s biggest collegiate leagues is making sure that esports will become a mainstay in its tournaments.University Athletic Association of the Philippines or UAAP Esports Commissioner Monique Monasterio says they are looking at “continuity” of the league after a critically-acclaimed start.“We decided on popular titles so that at least the schools wouldn't have a hard time comingup with their teams as well to be able to participate,” Monasterio told Scoreline in a phone interview.“So, we also looked at titles that are popular but would also have longevity because, as you know, with anything, there is a cost. So, we also didn't want to just come up with a title this season that wouldn't have continuity for next season,” the Commissioner explained. For the inaugural season, three major categories were selected to represent various gaming platforms: Console (NBA 2K), PC (VALORANT), and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Mobile).And while esports is considered as a demonstration sport - meaning the title won’t be part of overall championship competitions yet - the new endeavor by the league has been met with support from school administrators, students, parents, and even game developers.

Meralco Bolts has defeated the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, 99-94 in the opening game of the PBA’s 49th Season.Returning import Allen Durham led the Bolts with a double-double scoring 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Chris Banchero, who sank the first-ever four-pointer in PBA history, backed Durham with 14 points while Meralco’s captain Christ Newsome added 13 and energy-bunny Cliff Hodge chipped in 12 including nine rebounds and five assists.Sophomore Jolo Mendoza also made an impact by scoring 13 including the second four-pointer of the game including 3-of-3 shooting from the arc. He even got an ovation from the fans when he was subbed out after giving quality minutes for his team.

The Philippine Basketball Association 49th season opened the ceremony by acknowledging athletes and giving entertainment.When the curtains were raised at 5pm on Sunday, August 18 at the Araneta Coliseum.TV5 sports news anchor Tito Mikee Reyes and radio-TV host Ana Ramsey set the mood for the PBA’s opening night as they hosted the event.Then, the team muses together with the PBA board of governors came up on stage followed by the introduction of the team roster with their imports.Team muses were composed of different personalities from sports including Olympinas, beauty queens and celebrities.Singer-actress Julie Ann San Jose (who’s Magnolia muse last year) was the muse for the crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra, Olympian gymnast Aleah Finnegan for Meralco, volleyball star Jema Galanza for Phoenix, figure skater Charmaine Syke Chua for NorthPort, SEA games medalist in karate Jamie Lim for San Miguel (Jamie’s father Samboy was one of the SMB’s icon in the 90’s), Miss World Philippines 2024 Krishnah Gravidez for Blackwater, streamer-host-model Myrtle Sarrosa for Converge, actress and model Rere Madrid for Magnolia, host-beauty queen Inday Fatima for NLEX, beauty queen Sophia Bianca Santos for Rain or Shine, pageant icon Annabelle Mcdonnel, and Eat Bulaga host Atasha Mulach for TNT.Olympic bronze medalists boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas also joined them on stage.

The Philippine Blu Girls Under-18 team is set to compete in the 2024 U18 Women’s Softball World Cup Group Stage scheduled on August 29 to September 2 in Dallas, Texas.The tournament marks a significant milestone for the Philippine women’s under-18 team as they take on the best young softball players in the world for a chance to make the final round of the World Cup.Jean Henri Lhuillier, president of the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil), expressed his enthusiasm for the team’s qualification in the group phase.

De La Salle University unleashed a masterclass, sweeping University of Santo Tomas 13-5, 13-7 in a high-octane finals showdown to capture the first-ever UAAP Esports VALORANT championship on Friday at the Hyundai Hall, Arete Ateneo in Quezon City.In a relentless display of precision and teamwork, the Green Archers proved unstoppable in their quest for UAAP history.La Salle coach Xavier “Xavi8K” Juan attributed their dominant performance in the finals to lessons learned during their tough semifinal match, which served as a springboard for their success.

World championships medalists Joseph Arcilla and Bien Zoleta-Mañalac will banner the 12-man Soft Tennis Pilipinas team at the 2024 World Soft Tennis Championship slated September 1 to 11 at Anseong, South Korea.Team captain Arcilla will banner the men’s team with Dheo Talatayod, Patrick Mendoza, Adjuthor Moralde II, Samuel Nuguit and Sherwin Nuguit, while captain Zoleta-Mañalac will steer the women’s squad, alongside Princess Catindig, Bambi Zoleta, Cristy Sañosa, Virvien Bejusano, Bea Ebriega and Shyryn Salazar.The team is now in Daegu and Sunchang City, South Korea for a three-week training camp.The 12-member team will first compete at the 2024 Sunchang Open Soft Tennis Tournament set for August 25 to 31, as a final build-up to the world meet.

Filipina pole vaulter Riezel Buenaventura claimed a silver medal in women’s pole vault (35-39) of the World Masters Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.Buenaventura registered a height of 3.13 meters behind the 3.45 meter of her German rival.This is the country’s second medal after the silver of Danilo Fresnido in the javelin throw event. Meanwhile, master athletes Judith Staples and Drolly Claravall will be seeing action in the women’s discus throw, while Benigno Marayag will compete in the men’s long jump on Monday, August 19.

The Chery Tiggo Crossovers secured their place in the quarterfinals of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference after breezing past the winless ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles on Saturday, August 17, at the Mall of Asia Arena. The Crossovers bounced back from their previous loss to the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, improving their record to 5-2 and claiming solo fourth place after hammering the Thundebelles in a commanding straight-sets victory, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19.With the quarters in mind, coach Kungfu Reyes said they will try harder in training, which they expect to show in matches.

The Petro Gazz Angels bolstered their quarterfinal chances in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference with a hard-fought five-set victory over the PLDT High Speed Hitters on Saturday, August 17, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.With Petro Gazz import Wilma Salas unleashing her full strength, the Angels strung together three straight wins, 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 16-14, to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.The Cuban import unloaded 40 points on 36 attacks, three blocks, and an ace while also providing steady defense with 21 excellent receptions.Salas earned her nod as PVL Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Pilipinas Live for the period of August 13 to 17 after delivering a career-high 74 points in two games against Creamline last Tuesday, August 13, and PLDT on Saturday, August 17, towing the Angels past powerhouse opponents and into a 4-3 win-loss record. She surpassed her previous best of 37 points set in 2019.

June Mar Fajardo bagged another trophy to his collection as he was named Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player for the eight time.The MVP plum was given on Sunday, August 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum during the Leo Awards before the opening ceremony of the PBA’s 49th Season.Fajardo defeated his teammate CJ Perez and now Terrafirma’s Christian Standhardinger to be called the unprecedented eight-time MVP.The previous record that Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio held for a long time was four. But when JMF broke the record and made it five, he continually improved to get one after another.

Alas Pilipinas Men emerged with a historic achievement by seizing a bronze medal in the first leg of the 2024 Southeast Asian Volleyball League (SEA V.League) after losing to Thailand on Sunday, August 18, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Despite Alas taking a three-set beating to the Thais, enduring a  26-28, 14-25, 16-25 loss, it is a first podium finish for the Philippine men’s volleyball team since finishing fourth place in their 2022 and 2023 appearance in the tournament. The Filipinos, who were missing the services of team captain and season outside hitter Bryan Bagunas, ended the opening leg at 1-2 while the Thais nabbed the gold after an unblemished record of 3-0.Indonesia, meanwhile, seized the silver after winning back-to-back golds in the 2023 edition.Noel Kampton, who filled in the shoes for the injured Bagunas, paced Alas and produced 10 points. Leo Ordiales and Michaelo Buddin each posted seven markers in the loss. Aside from the third-place finish, Buddin took home the second Best Outside Spiker award, while Kim Malabunga was named second Best Middle Blocker in the first leg.Opposite hitter Bhinijdee Napadet and middle blocker Nilsawai Kissada led the way for the Thais with 14 points apiece while Phanram Anurak chipped in 13 markers as they copped their first-ever SEA V.League title.

Danilo Fresnido won a silver medal in the Men’s 50+ Javelin Throw event at the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.Fresnido clinched the second spot behind Carlo Sonego of Italy with a distance of 56.34 meters.Masters sprinters John Aguilar and Brenda Zinampan together with pole vaulter Judith Staples saw action at Day 1 of the tournament.Zinampan ranked 12th in the 100 meter women’s event registering a time of 14.04 seconds in the qualifying rounds and would move to the semifinals. Aguilar finished 5th in 100 meters men’s event heat 2 with a 12.75 seconds performance while Staples ended her pole vault event in 6th place with a jump of 2.0 meter.On the other hand, Day 2 of the event saw Dolly Claravall in the Hammer Throw with a 27.01 meter performance and a 22nd place overall ranking in the highly contested W50 category.Hurdler Edward Kho finished 5th in heat 2 of the 400 meter men’s event and ranked 19th overall with a 1:10.13 performance. Zinampan saw action at the 100 meter women’s event with a 14.40 seconds, finishing at 22nd spot.Eleven members of the National Masters & Senior Athletics Association of the Philippines are competing in the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championship from August 13 to 25.

Filipina tennis player Alex Eala missed out on a semifinals berth of the W100 Cary tournament in North Carolina after failing to outplay second seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico early Friday morning (Philippine time).After taking the first set with ease, 6-3, Eala had a strong start in the second set, going up 4-2. However, Zarazua stormed back and won the next four games to take the match into a third set.Despite inching closer, pulling at 3-4, the 26-year-old Mexican bet kept her composure and won to punch a ticket to the semifinals.This is the second straight quarterfinal exit for the 19-year-old Asian Games bronze medalist after falling in the final eight of the W100 Landisville a few days ago. 

Hester will be on his third tour of duty in the league and it became possible after an unfortunate injury happened to Brandon Edwards.Edwards was the original import of the Terrafirma in the season opening conference Governors’ Cup but he suffered an ACL injury in their tune-up game against Meralco Bolts last Tuesday.The Dyip crammed in searching for a replacement for Edwards but luckily for them, Hester was available and also excited to return to Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam praised the Filipino gymnast and two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, for winning double gold medal during the recently concluded 2024 Paris OlympicsShanmugaratnam described it as a “real milestone” not just for Filipinos, but for Southeast Asians as well.Yulo recently made history in the country by winning back-to-back gold medals for the Philippines during the male floor exercise and vault events in the 2024 Olympic Games.The Singaporean President also says that Yulo has a very impressive performance as an athlete and he is the only athlete in the Southeast Asian nation to have won two Olympic golds in Asia. 

The Akari Chargers took down the Nxled Chameleons to remain perfect in the Premier League Volleyball (PVL) Reinforced Conference on Thursday, August 13, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig. Akari moved just a win away from securing the top seed and sweeping the preliminary round despite an opening set loss to sister team Nxled, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18.

Ateneo de Manila University’s Paolo Medina made history by winning the first-ever event title in UAAP esports in what was a thrilling basketball esports showdown against its perennial rival.Medina won in a stunning three-game series of NBA 2K24  against De La Salle University’s Kegan Yap, 2-1, at the Doreen Fernandez Black Box, Areté Ateneo, in Quezon City Thursday night. 

Farm Fresh snapped Capital1’s three-game winning streak to keep its quarterfinals hopes alive in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference on Thursday, August 15, at PhilSports Arena.The Foxies bowed to Cignal and PLDT in their last two games but bounced back with a straight set, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20, victory against the Solar Spikers.

The Philippine men’s national basketball team jumped from rank No. 38 to No. 34 following its success during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament last July where they upset the host team and world’s No. 6 Latvia.The Philippines and Japan were the only teams who made a leap in Asia's Top 10. The other Asian squads dropped from one to three rankings from their previous positions.Japan moved up from No. 26 to No. 21 in the world rankings following their Paris Olympics stint.Meanwhile, the other Asian Top 10 who went down from their rankings were No. 7 Australia (-2), No. 22 New Zealand (-1), No. 28 Iran (-1), No. 29 Lebanon (-1), No. 30 China (-1), No. 35 Jordan (-3), No. 53 South Korea (-3), and No. 56 Saudi Arabia (-3).  Overall, Team USA still holds the No. 1 position while the former No. 4 Serbia took the second spot after its gritty Olympic stint.Germany remained at No. 3 while Olympic host France jumped five spots to become the world’s No. 4 ranked team.Canada went two spots up to get the No. 5 position while Spain fell four places from its previous No. 2 to No. 6.Asia’s top ranked team Australia got the No. 7 spot while Argentina stayed at No.8.Gilas’ OQT victim, Latvia went three spots down to be ranked as No. 9 followed by Lithuania to complete the top 10 in the world.