The National University Lady Bulldogs tripped Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights in its first game of the 2024 V-League Women’s Collegiate Challenge on Wednesday at the Paco Arena in Manila.The Lady Bulldogs overcame a third-set defeat to conquer the Lady Knights, 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 25-11.Kaye Bombita and Myrtle Escanlar spearheaded the way for NU, whose young core showed great potential and promise, despite the absence of key players Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, and Arah Panique, who are currently competing with Alas Pilipinas Women in the ongoing SEA V.League tournament.

The Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz is in Paris.The Filipina weightlifter arrived in the French capital on Wednesday, August 7 (Manila time) ahead of the Team Philippines’ weightlifting campaign in the 2024 Paris Olympics.Diaz was seen bonding with the remaining Filipino athletes in the Olympic host city including her fellow Tokyo Olympian Eumir Marcial, who exited the medal race in his opening bout, and Hergie Bacyadan, who lost in the round of 16.While she is yet to meet gymnast Carlos Yulo for the first time since he won his two gold medals during the Summer Games, Diaz will also be serving as an official of the International Weightlifting Federation Athletes’ Commission, where she is a member of their executive board.Only two weightlifters are left to open their campaigns with John Ceniza being the latest casualty of Team Philippines after he was not able to continue his bid for an Olympic medal due to a shoulder injury. Elreen Ando will open her bid on Thursday, August 8 (Manila time) at the women’s 59kg, while Vanessa Sarno will play on early Saturday in the women’s 71kg event.

Norman Miguel has stepped down as National University head coach after directing the Lady Bulldogs to a successful title-redemption campaign in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament last May.Miguel confirmed on Thursday, August 8, that he already parted ways with the UAAP champions with deputy Ray Karl Dimaculangan installed as the interim head coach of the squad in the V-League while NU is still in the process of finding a replacement for him. Dimaculangan called the shots for the Lady Bulldogs’ tournament-pening victory against Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the V-League Preseason last Sunday, August 4, at the Paco Arena. 

Nikola Jokic’s triple-double led Serbia to win their first Olympic bronze medal in the men’s basketball tournament when they defeated the reigning FIBA World Cup champions Germany, 93-83.Jokic scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished off 11 assists to secure the first bronze for their country in the Paris Games.Vasile Micic backed-up Jokic with his 19 points, and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 markers.Meanwhile, Germany was led by Franz Wagner with 19 points while Mortiz Wagner tallied 16.

Filipino-Canadian Kayla Sanchez and Filipino-American Jarod Hatch, who both represented the country in the Paris Olympics 2024, will join the Philippine Aquatics Inc. (PAI) national trials this month at the Teofilo Ildefonso swimming pool of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. A total of 61 Filipino swimmers based abroad have signed up to join some 500 local hopefuls for a 50 meter (long course) and 25 meter (short course) swimming championships slated on August 15 to 18 and August 20 to 23, respectively.The national trials will be the basis for the selection of the national team members who will see action in the Aquatics World Cup series, the 46th Southeast Asian Age Group Championships and the World Aquatics Championships next year.Sanchez and Hatch banner the list of foreign-based hopefuls together with former Southeast Asian Games champion Chloe Isleta, junior standout Heather White, and Teia Salvino. 

The Filipino MMA star Joshua Pacio is now making progress in his recovery from knee injury, and focusing on rehab.Pacio had to trust his doctors and therapist for him to get back on the saddle. “The therapy is going well, and I’m making progress,” he said. “It’s a process, but I trust it. It’s still a long road, but I’m devoted to coming back stronger.” Pacio saidAlthough Pacio also continues to keep an eye on the ONE strawweight division. He heard his name on the lips of his old rival Jared Brooks weeks after he celebrated his interim title win against Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24. Jared Brooks bagged the ONE interim Strawweight MMA World Title against Balart. Brooks is eager to fight Pacio again to cement his status as the division’s best and to win his old belt back, but the Filipino has personal reasons for wanting the trilogy.   

It will be a busy timetable for the Philippine Basketball Association when it opens the 49th Season this Sunday, August 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.In the season-opener Governors’ Cup, the league will have six playing dates for at least a month as they pave the way for two major international events that the PBA will play a major part.The first one will be the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers while the second one will be the participation of San Miguel and Meralco in the East Asia Super League (EASL) that features a home-and-away format for the second season.

Just days before the opening day of the Philippine Basketball Association 49th Season, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson officially returned to the TNT Tropang Giga to defend their Governor’s Cup title.Hollis-Jefferson will replace Darius Days as TNT’s import.Rondae was the original choice of TNT as he’s the one who led them to the promised land last year. But he’s not yet available until yesterday (August 14), that's why the team tapped the services of Darius Days.In the official roster line-up of teams released last night, Rondae Hollis Jefferson is the import listed for TNT Tropang Giga.With the return of RHJ, the TNT got a big boost as he already know the system of the team and the fans will have another chance to watch the “Kobe look-alike” import.

Tough battles await Gilas Pilipinas Women when they face the best teams in the world for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournaments in Kigali, Rwanda slated from August 19 to 25.As part of their preparation, the Filipina cagers held a training camp in Baguio in which they competed against high school boys.

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.

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.

Filipino International Master Daniel Quizon inched closer to becoming a full-fledged Grandmaster after placing 6th overall in the 30th Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Masters in United Arab Emirates.The 20-year-old Quizon posted another upset over Indian Grandmaster Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan in the final round for a share of the top spot in the tournament with 7 points but finished in 6th place after the tiebreakers.With impressive wins over four Grandmasters and three International Masters, Quizon earned an additional rating points of 33.3 improving to 2490 from 2457. He only needs just 10 to complete the required 2500 to become a Grandmaster.

Filipino-American swimmer Gian Santos exhibited superb performances during the first Philippine Aquatics Inc. National Trials over the weekend at the Teofilo Ildefonso swimming pool in Rizal Memorial Aquatics Center.Santos, an incoming freshman at the Columbia University in New York City, displayed impressive forms as he swept multiple gold medals, set two new junior national records, and earned the prestigious Most Outstanding Swimmer award.His accomplishments and exceptional performances significantly strengthened his bid to join the Philippine delegation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as the trials are crucial in selecting the national swimming team that will see action in various international tournaments ahead. Santos bagged gold medals in the boys 16 to 18 class 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 200m breastroke, 200m individual medley (IM), and 400m IM.The 18-year-old promising athlete also set two new junior national records for 100m freestyle after registering a time of 0:50.70 and in the 200m breaststroke with a 2:18.30.

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are trying to paint a perfect slate in the first round of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ cup elimination round when they face the San Miguel Beermen in the main game of the Thursday double-header at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.In their previous game last Friday, the Elasto Painters got their 4-0 record when they dominated the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 116-99.Rain or Shine is the only team right now with an unblemished record in the conference and they are determined to remain perfect in the first round.

A new ruling by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) halted Jaja Santiago’s aspiration to suit up for the Japan national women’s volleyball team. Jaja Santiago, who recently acquired Japanese citizenship and now goes by the name of Minowa Sachi, is ineligible to play for Japan based on a new FIVB rule that will prevent her from transferring from another federation.Newly-elected president of Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Ramon “Tats” Suzara explained the technicalities, citing once a player suits up for one country’s national team, they can no longer do so for another nation.

The Creamline Cool Smashers extended their record as champions after bagging their 10th overall title and became the first Premier Volleyball League (PVL) team to win three conferences in one season. The untouchable Creamline conquered the gutsy Cignal HD Spikers in a five-set thriller, 21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13, to clinch the Invitational Conference crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Thursday, September 12.Creamline made history as they also won the All-Filipino Conference earlier this year and the Reinforced Conference just a week ago, completing a historic grand slam. The Cool Smashers rallied behind the efforts of Best Outside Hitter awardee and American import Erica Staunton who fired 29 points coming from 26 attacks, while Reinforced Conference double MVP Bernadeth Pons led the locals with 27 markers anchored on 24 attacks and two aces, also tallying 16 excellent receptions and 13 excellent digs.

The Philippines had trouble-free opening round victories after it blanked both Aruba in the men’s division and Malawi in the women’s side via 4-0 scores in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, September 11.Olympiad debutants International Master Daniel Quizon and Ruelle Canino pulled off impressive results with Quizon humbling FIDE Master Juan Pablo De Mey in 35 moves of a Sicilian Dragon on top board and Canino swatting Anne Simwabe on board four in an English Opening with a 35-move win as well.Woman International Master Jan Jodilyn Fronda commanded the tournament by delivering the first triumph for the country in this Olympiad edition by defeating Tupokiwe Msukwa in 35 moves of an English on board three.Grandmaster John Paul Gomez, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, WIM Shania Mae Mendoza, and IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia, Canino, and then Quizon one by one posted victories by swooping down their helpless foes. Despite having trouble with his opponent, IM Paulo Bersamina capped the momentous day by overcoming Ilya Stetsenko on board two, completing the great start for the Philippine team coached by GMs Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales.The Filipino woodpushers are expected to field the same set of rosters in the second round of the 11-round tournament in their bid to stay on track for a potential top 20, possibly better, finish.

Ateneo de Manila University narrowly escaped a late-game surge by archrival De La Salle University to triumph, 65-62, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball tournament on Sunday, September 15, at Adamson Gym.The Lady Blue Eagles built a commanding 47-29 lead early in the third quarter anchored from dominant performances of reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kacey Dela Rosa, Junize Calago, rookie Kai Oani, and Nigerian center Sarah Makanjuola.Despite ruling the period with a comfortable 51-38 cushion, a game surge in the fourth quarter helmed by Luisa San Juan ignited a comeback for the Lady Archers. 

“Super” Marcio Lassiter has become the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) all-time leader in three-points made on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.Going into their game against sibling rival Barangay Ginebra, Lassiter just needed three 3-pointers to surpass Jimmy Alapag’s 1,250 record. And the SMB faithful expected that to happen.The sweet-shooting guard didn’t disappoint their fans as he reached the milestone in the first quarter alone where he drained four triples - the first two to tie the record of the “Mighty Mouse” while the third one broke it and the fourth one to set another milestone.He made another two in the second half to further etch his legacy as the best three-pointer in the first ever pay-for-play league in Asia.Lassiter finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from downtown to be awarded as the Best Player of the game and tallied a new three-point record of 1,254. The game ball used in the historic feat was awarded by Commissioner Willie Marcial during half. Lassiter was joined on center stage by wife and five children.Alapag, who texted Lassiter on the eve of the game before Cio targets the historical feat, is now ranked no. 2 with 1,250 3-pointers made while the “Triggerman” Allan Caidad is at third place with 1,242.Lassiter was the fastest and most efficient to get the “three-point king” honors as he did it in only 537 games, shooting 39 percent off the arc.Caidic did it in 598 games while shooting 37 percent. Alapag, on the other hand, did it in 601 games behind 36 percent shooting.The Beermen sniper still has a chance to make a better legacy by adding more three-pointers to his name as he is still an active player and not yet announcing when he will hang his sneakers.