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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

The post-Azkals era of the Philippine men’s football team is off to a challenging start after head coach Tom Saintfiet resigned from his post on Thursday, August 29, to take on the Mali men’s team in Africa.The development came four days before the start of the 2024 Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Saintfiet, the Belgian coach who boasts nearly 30 years of coaching experience, resigned just six months after taking the Philippines gig. The Malian Football Federation announced through its social media channels that it has appointed the 51-year-old Saintfiet to lead its national team, known as “The Eagles,” ahead of the 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign.

Meralco Bolts bank on a huge third-quarter tear to rip NorthPort Batang Pier, 109-99, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Sunday night, September 1.Import Allen Durham hulked a near triple-double performance spiked by his 19 of his game-high 34 points in the third quarter where the Bolts pulled away from the Batang Pier for good. He added 15 rebounds and nine assists to lead Meralco in a joint Group A lead with TNT Tropang Texters at 3-1.Chris Banchero put up 23, Bong Quinto chipped in 18, including a team-leading 14 in the first half, while Anjo Caram contributed 10, all in the third canto.On the defensive end, the Bolts limited Arvin Tolentino to 21 after exploding for a career-high 51 in their last game in a follow-up to a near triple double in a previous outing.The Bolts also did a good job on NorthPort import Venky Jois whom they bounded to just six points, five rebounds and three assists with two turnovers.William Navarro and Joshua Munzon contributed 18 and 16, respectively for the Batang Pier who fell to an even 2-2 record as their two-game winning run was snapped.

The Philippines concluded their stint after finishing third place in the women’s doubles of the Sunchang Open International Soft Tennis tournament in South Korea over the weekend.Team captain Bien Zoleta-Mañalac and Princess Catindig ended their campaign after they were overwhelmed by Koreans Lee Hangyeol and Kim Koeun in the semifinal round, 4-5 (7), held at Sunchang Public Stadium.On the other hand, the Philippine team will now proceed to Anseong City for the World Championships scheduled on September 3 to 9. The Soft Tennis Pilipinas are vying to surpass their previous medal tallies of three bronze medals coming from Josephine Paguyo in 1995, Joseph Arcilla in 2011, and Zoleta-Mañalac in 2015.

Chezka Centeno continued to carry the fight for the Philippines after defeating Mayte Romero of Spain on Tuesday, September 3, in the World Pool Association or WPA World 9-Ball Women’s Championship held in Hamilton, New Zealand. The World Junior 9-Ball champion will vie for a place in the knockout round when she faces off Yuki Hiraguchi of Japan.Meanwhile, veteran Rubilen Amit launched her 9-Ball Women’s Championship in grand fashion after overwhelming Canada’s Veronique Menard with a 4-1, 4-0 victory in the race to 4 best of three sets preliminary stage.Amit’s win arranged her a match up against Chinese Taipe’s Chen Chia Hua, who earned a first-match bye. But the 9-Ball crown remained elusive for the two-time World 10-Ball champion as she dropped the second game with Hua, 1-2, via shootout.She will meet Gemma Schumann of Australia on the loser’s side.The lone Filipino entry, Carlo Biado, on the other hand, opened his first match with a loss against Jui-an Ryan Hsu of Chinese Taipei, 6-8. He tried to revive his chance by trouncing Kenko Suzuki of Japan when he was relegated in the loser’s bracket but eventually succumbed to Chinese Gao Zhankui, 7-8, to end his World 10-Ball crown bid. 

The Philippine men’s football team opened its Merdeka Cup campaign with a loss, 1-2, against host country Malaysia on Wednesday night, September 4, at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.Jefferson Tabinas scored the nation’s first goal on its comeback appearance in the Merdeka meet since 1972. The goal gave the Philippines an early 1-0 lead but Harimau Malaya didn’t stay idle for too long as the Malaysians tied the score after a straight-away shot from Mohammad Syamer Bin Kutty Abba just outside the box in the 43rd minute.A yellow card sanctioned against new comer Matthew Baldisimo after tackling Aiman Hanapi inside the box resulted in a penalty kick in favor of Malaysia at the 73rd minute. With Safawi bin Rashid’s penalty kick landing a goal, the Malaysians successfully triumphed against the Filipino booters to achieve their first lead of the game, 2-1.The Philippines is now relegated for a third place match and will battle Tajikistan on Sunday, September 8. 

The TNT Tropang Giga claimed a share of leading the Group A after overpowering the still winless Terrafirma Dyip, 107-89 in their match last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Rondae Hollis-Jefferson just shook off a nagging ankle injury to lead TNT in their win as he registered 26 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks.

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters wanted to redeem themselves after failing to sweep the first round of the elimination round when they were defeated by June Mar Fajardo’s buzzer-beating jumper in their last game.The Elasto Painters will face the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, which seek their first win of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup when they meet on Tuesday, 5pm of September 9 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Should ROS get the dub, they will have a solid hold of the lead in Group B when they recorded a 5-1 in the standings, and will be one victory ahead of coach Yeng Guaio’s target to be able to secure a spot in the crossover quarterfinal round.However, Guiao is cautious of the struggling Fuel Masters that will rely on the capabilities of their new import Brandone Francis, who averaged 39 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in his first two games in the league.