Category: Sports

CJ Catapusan shocked virtually everyone at the Bacoor City Strike Gymnasium — even commissioner Kenneth Duremdes himself — as he lifted eighth-seeded Iloilo past top-seeded Bacoor City, 89-86, in Game 1 of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League South Division first-round playoff series on Saturday night. Catapusan, a member of 2022 UAAP champion University of the Philippines Maroons, drained a buzzer-beating triple that silenced the Strikers’ home crowd, completing the United Royals’ comeback from 23 points down at the start of the best-of-three series. Bacoor waxed hot in the first half, dropping 31 points on Iloilo in the first quarter before opening a 20-point halftime lead that would become 23 after Jhan Nermal hit a three to start the third period. However, Iloilo closed the third with a 32-6 run to open a 69-66 advantage entering the fourth. The game became tight in the fourth quarter, but the Strikers eventually regained the lead, 85-84, with 2:06 to play. Shaq Imperial put the United Royals back up, 86-85, after a pull-up jumper, 1:15 remaning. Chito Jaime had a chance to put Bacoor City up anew, but he could only make a split from the line for 86-all with seven seconds left. Aware that the home team still had a foul to give, Catapusan caught them off guard and quickly unleashed a two-dribble pull-up that hit the glass first before going in. Renzo Navarro led Iloilo with 16 points, three rebounds, 14 assists, and one assist; Josh Flores added 14 points and 10 rebounds; and Omar Larupay chipped in 10 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. Catapusan scored 9 points. Nermal and James Kwekuteye each scored 23 points for Bacoor City, which will try to avert an early exit Saturday at the Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City. Zamboanga, gained a headstart in its playoff series against Quezon with a 77-68 win in the first game. Jaycee Marcelino came close to a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists along with one steal and one block to lead Zamboanga, which can close out its best-of-three affair at home. Topeng Lagrama fired 16 points with five rebounds, three assists, and one steal to lead Quezon.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Vietnamese athletes on October 7 won one silver and two bronze medals in the penultimate day of the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19) in Hangzhou city of China’s Zhejiang province.

The silver went to the women’s regu (team of three) after they lost to the world’s strongest squad of Thailand in the gold medal match, 15-21, 12-21 at the Jinhua Sports Centre.

The Thai team had better techniques but the Vietnamese also made many mistakes, including their serves many of which went wide or hit the net.

It was the last day of the sepak takraw matches and in total, Vietnam won one gold (women’s quadrant), one silver and one bronze (men’s regu).

The karate team, equally as successful overall as the sepak takraw athletes, added to their medal tally with one bronze on October 7 in kumite (combat) competition.

Do Thanh Nhan defeated the Republic of Korea’s Baek Junhyeok 9-3 in the third-placed playoff of the men’s 84kg category at the Linping Sports Centre.

The karate squad have won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. They still have chance to secure more medals as in the last day on October 8, athletes were slated to compete in the men’s team kata (performance) event.

Vietnam’s second bronze on October 7 was from xiangqi (Chinese chess).

Lai Ly Huynh beat Liu Kuo Hua of Chinese Taipe in the last round of the men’s individual category. He had eight points to place third in the rankings.

It was the second medal of the team after they won a silver in the mixed team event last week.

As karate athletes secured no more medals on October 8 – the last day of ASIAD 19, the Vietnamese delegation officially wrapped up their journey at the Games with three golds, five silvers and 19 bronze medals, placing at No 21./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vince Magbuhos’ heroics lifted Adamson University past Ateneo de Manila in overtime, 74-71, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 men’s basketball at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Saturday. The score was tied at 71-all with 3.3 seconds remaining when Magbuhos fired his third triple to save the day for the Falcons, who notched their second win in three outings. Magbuhos finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Eli Ramos and Ced Manzano led Adamson with 12 points each, with Manzano hauling down 12 rebounds to go with two blocks. Mason Amos topscored with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals for the defending champion Ateneo, which absorbed its second loss against a lone win. Kai Ballungay added 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Blue Eagles erected a 44-29 halftime lead before the Falcons trimmed it to 48-53 at the end of the third period. Ateneo raced to a 60-50 lead in the fourth quarter but Adamson rallied back and, behind Matthew Montebon’s three-pointer, tied at 69 to force the extra period.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Vietnam’s Sepak Takraw squad have added a silver to their medal haul at the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 2023) in China following a match with Thailand in the finals of the women’s group three event.

Thailand – Vietnam’s long-term rival – claimed a 2-0 victory with a 10 match-point lead, pocketing the gold medal.

Nevertheless, the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw girls have every reason to be proud as they have brought home one gold medal in the women’s quadrant (team of four) event and one silver in the women’s regu (team of three). There was also a bronze medal for Vietnam in the men’s group three event.

With these achievements, the Vietnamese squad had a successful competition season at this regional tournament./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jose Rizal University defeated Perpetual Help, 71-65, to take solo second in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 99 at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan on Saturday. Newcomer Shawn Argente had a team-high 17 points, highlighted by five triples, as the Heavy Bombers climbed to 5-1. Joshua Guiab chipped in 12 points and five rebounds; Marwin Dionisio added eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and one block; and Jonathan Medina, who also scored eight points, had five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. ‘We played as a team and we’re not too reliant on Agem (Miranda) to score,’ JRU coach Louie Gonzales said. Miranda finished with six points, the same output of Marj De Leon. Four players registered double-digit scores for Perpetual, which fell to 1-4. Marcus Nitura had 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks for the Altas, who even grabbed a 57-56 lead midway in the fourth quarter. Jelo Razon contributed 14 points, including three triples, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Christian Pagaran and Art Roque delivered 12 and 11 points, respectively. Both had eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Lyceum takes on San Beda University in the main game of Sunday’s triple-bill. The Pirates, unbeaten in five games, face the Red Lions (3-1) at 2:40 p.m. Mapua (3-1) battles Emilio Aguinaldo College (2-1) at 10 a.m. while Arellano and Letran, both winless in four starts, square off at 12:20 p.m.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The National Capital Region (NCR) leg of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Games kicks off at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila on Sunday. More than 3,000 cadet-athletes from colleges and universities all over Metro Manila will compete in arnis, athletics, basketball, boxing, kickboxing, volleyball and E-sports until Oct. 14. Senator Imee Marcos has been invited to grace the opening ceremony, to be attended by tournament chair Senator Francis Tolentino and officials of the Department of National Defense, Commission on Higher Education and Philippine Sports Commission. Philippine Army has dominated the Luzon (Cavite), Visayas (Iloilo) and Mindanao (Zamboanga) legs of the tournament. All gold and silver medalists in the four elimination legs will advance to the National Finals on Oct. 22 to 27.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Margarita ‘Meggie’ Ochoa defeated United Arab Emirates’ Balqees Abdulla, 1-0, in the women’s -48kg division finals of the jiu-jitsu competition to give the Philippines its second gold medal in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China on Thursday. Ochoa marched on to the gold medal match with a massive semifinal victory against Pechrada Kacie Tan of Thailand via points, 4-2. After beating Mongolia’s Odgerel Baybayar in the elimination round of 16, she came out with an impressive submission victory against Nazgul Rakhayeva of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. World No. 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena gave the country its first gold medal in record fashion on Saturday. The Philippines has so far also bagged two silver and 10 bronze medals. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. commended Ochoa for bagging the country’s second gold medal in the quadrennial meet. Marcos said Ochoa’s win is a testament that martial arts is ingrained in Filipino culture. ‘Congratulations, Meggie! Your comeback in Women’s -48kg Jiu-jitsu at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China not only earned us our 2nd gold medal but also proved that martial arts mastery runs deep in our veins,’ he said in an X post.

Source: Philippines News Agency