Military takes hold of Abu Sayyaf arms cache in Sulu

March 28, 2019 | 8:02 pm

TROOPS found an arms cache of the Abu Sayyaf group in Patikul, Sulu on March 26 as military pursuit operations continue against the bandit group. The Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) reported that among the items retrieved from the hideout were a 60 mm mortar, two M16 rifles, bandoliers with magazines, improvised explosive device paraphernalia, flags with ISIS markings, a military map, a handheld radio, and a night vision monocular. Following the discovery, soldiers tracked some of the group’s members and a 30-minute gunfight ensued. WestMinCom said there were no reported casualties among the soldiers. “We remain resolute in crumbling terrorist groups to address security threats and to pave the way for stability in Mindanao,” said Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela B. Vega, WestMinCom commander, “Rest assured that we will fulfill our mandate of securing the area of responsibility by ending insurgency to pave the way for development here.”

Davao-Samal bridge alignment starts at Azuela Cove

March 28, 2019 | 8:01 pm

THE REGIONAL Development Council (RDC) has approved the alignment of the proposed bridge that will connect Davao City and the Island Garden City of Samal. The option that was approved early this week is from Azuela Cove in Lanang on the Davao side to the closest point in Samal, based on RDC documents. The bridge will be 2.62-kilometers long with only about 900 meters traversing the sea. The Samal point will be connected to the island’s circumferential road. Ivan C. Cortez, head of the Davao City Planning and Development Office, yesterday said the RDC considered several other options, including a tunnel that was eventually assessed to be too costly. “The tunnel will answer the height restriction constraints (that the city is imposing on new structures), but it will be very costly in terms of construction, operations and maintenance,” said Mr. Cortez. With the bridge, Mr. Cortez added, bigger vessels like Panamax will have “to circle Samal to avoid Pakiputan Strait.” The proposed bridge, which was first conceptualized about 40 years ago, has been identified as among the big ticket projects of under President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration. Initial estimates for the construction cost is about P9 billion. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Nation at a Glance — (03/29/19)

March 28, 2019 | 8:01 pm

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

UP looks to do better in match with Ateneo

March 28, 2019 | 6:56 pm

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
BADLY beaten when they first collided in University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81, the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons are looking to do far better when they take on the league-leading Ateneo Lady Eagles on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Swept, 25-21, 25-15 and 28-26, in their last meeting on March 10, the Diliman-based spikers are angling for a rebound win not only to exact some payback but more importantly to give their Final Four push a boost.
UP (5-3) is hoping to be more “mentally prepared” when they meet Ateneo (7-1) in their scheduled 4 p.m. match.
In the first game, the Lady Maroons had a good start before unravelling. The second set weighed heavily as they were out of tune largely. In the third frame they tried to salvage the game but just could not complete it as the Lady Eagles were just unrelenting with their command.
Tots Carlos was the lone UP player in double digits against Ateneo, finishing with 10.
After her was Ayi Gannaban with seven and Isa Molde, Marian Buitre and Maris Layug finishing with six points each.
The Lady Maroons are coming off a big straight-sets win over the defending champions De La Salle Lady Spikers on Sunday.
Meanwhile, out to derail UP’s push is Ateneo, winners of seven straight matches and playing solid under new coach Oliver Almadro.
After being tripped in their tournament opener by La Salle, the Lady Eagles have continuously soared, banking on a total team effort and tremendous grit.
The latter was in full display in their last game against the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses on March 20 as they bucked being two sets down in the contest to claim the win in five sets, 19-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22 and 15-11.
Veteran Maddie Madayag led the way for the Lady Eagles with 23 points, boosted by a UAAP record of 11 blocks.
Kat Tolentino had 20 points with Bea De Leon and Ponggay Gaston adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Setter Deanna Wong had 38 excellent sets to help the Ateneo ascent some more.
Meanwhile in the first game at 2 p.m., the FEU Lady Tamaraws (5-3) meet up with the UE Lady Warriors (2-6).
Both teams are coming off victories in their last matches with FEU beating the Adamson Lady Falcons in five sets on Sunday and UE defeating the National University Lady Bulldogs in four sets on March 20.
The Lady Tamaraws will be missing the services of top rookie Lycha Ebon, who sprained his right knee in their last victory and is set to miss at least a week.

Japan event fills a ‘void’ for ONE Championship — analyst

March 28, 2019 | 6:56 pm

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
TOKYO — This weekend ONE Championship makes history as it holds its first-ever event in Japan with “ONE: A New Era.”
And for combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano, for ONE to finally descend on “The Land of the Rising Sun,” which has a rich martial arts history and was home to one of the top MMA promotions in Pride Fighting Championships, is really a huge occasion as it solidifies its growing standing as an MMA powerhouse.
“From the very beginning, ONE Championship’s main goal is to be the premier destination of mixed martial arts in the eastern hemisphere. They have gone to several markets in the region, including untapped countries such as Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Cambodia. But there is still something missing in order to cement the company’s position as the real successor of the legendary Pride organization,” said Mr. Icasiano in an online correspondence with BusinessWorld.
“Let me use a comic-book analogy here. It’s like Thanos’ feared Infinity Gauntlet in the pages of Marvel Comics. You can say that the missing Infinity Stone for an MMA company like ONE is holding an event on Japanese soil. After nearly eight years of holding events in various cities across Asia, they finally get to do that. Of course, staging an event in Japan’s capital of Tokyo holds historical relevance,” he added.
ONE: A New Era, happening at the Ryogoku Kokugikan here on March 31, boasts of the biggest fight card in the promotion’s history, including four title fights and legends stepping into the cage.
The Japan event is headlined by the world lightweight title fight between champion Eduard Folayang of the Philippines and hometown bet Shinya Aoki.
Co-headlining it is the champion-versus-champion battle between women’s strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan of China and women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee of Singapore for the former’s belt.
Also part of the card is the middleweight world championship collision of champion Aung La N Sang of Myanmar against Ken Hasegawa of Japan as well as the world bantamweight title clash of champion Kevin Belingon of the Philippines against Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes.
A New Era will see the ONE debut as well of MMA legends Demetrious “The Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez in separate grand prix matches with Filipino flyweight Danny Kingad also set to see action.
For Mr. Icasiano, that ONE decided to lay out a lot for its first Japanese event is not at all surprising.
“I consider Japan as the birthplace of mixed martial arts. Shooto and Pancrase gave birth to the sport we love and adore today. For ONE Championship, a company that claims to be Asia’s frontrunner in MMA, it is paying homage to the place where it originated. Definitely, it is a milestone for the company,” he said.
GREAT PLATFORM FOR FILIPINOS
Considering the enormity of the whole event in MMA, it presents a great platform for Filipino fighters to showcase what they are capable of to an even wider audience, the fight analyst said.
“All eyes of the MMA world will be on ONE’s card in Tokyo this Sunday, and it’s a great platform for Filipino athletes such as Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon and Danny Kingad to showcase what Filipino MMA is all about. Their matches on Sunday are important because it could establish that Filipinos are not just part of Asian MMA’s ecosystem. We could stake our claim that it’s possible for us Filipinos in a constantly expanding landscape of MMA to be apex predators at the top of the food chain. Definitely, it is a must-win for the three Team Lakay representatives. But it comes with greats rewards,” Mr. Icasiano said.
He went on to say that among the three Filipino fighters seeing action, while he believes all are a capable of emerging triumphant, he sees Mr. Folayang having “the greatest chance of walking out victorious,” owing to how he is the more well-rounded fighter over Mr. Aoki at this stage of their respective careers and how he has significantly improved since he last fought the Japanese legend in 2016.
“Messrs. Belingon and Kingad should have a tougher time against Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes and Japanese Senzo Ikeda, respectively,” Mr. Icasiano said.
The analyst said Mr. Belingon should be on top of his game against Mr. Fernandes who most certainly would go for his vaunted takedown game to reclaim his title. Knocking out his opponent and not leave the outcome of the match to the judges would serve Mr. Belingon’s cause well, said the analyst.
Mr. Kingad, on the other hand, has had his struggles against Japanese opponents in the past, Mr. Icasiano observed. He is hoping that the Filipino flyweight made the necessary preparations against Mr. Ikeda and would show the true top-class fighter that he is.
ONE: A New Era will be available live for viewing on the ONE Championship app while in the Philippines it can be seen at ABS-CBN S+A beginning at 6 p.m. and iWant Sports.

GoPilipinasGo pep rally unites PHISGOC and PSC

March 28, 2019 | 6:55 pm

PHILIPPINE Southeast Asian Games organizing committee chair Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday night vowed to leave behind the bickering among sports officials as he tried to rally Team Philippines toward the overall title in the coming Games.
Speaking before some 1,300 national athletes and coaches during the pep rally and concert spearheaded by GoPilipinasGo movement, Cayetano said: “We will try work harder. We will try to get along better, we will try to get more funds.”
It was a show of solidarity among sports officials as Cayetano shared the stage with Philippine Sports Commission Butch Ramirez, chief of mission Monsour del Rosario, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) board member Jonne Go and Philspada head Mike Barredo.
Cayetano told the athletes to just stay focused on training as they released white doves in a symbolic gesture of unity.
“It’s a humbling experience for myself, for chairman Butch, and for everyone here on stage because you the athletes continue to teach us a lot,” said Cayetano.
“It’s easy to say win as one, but there’s a lot of hard work that we should put into winning as one,” added the former senator and secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Leading the Filipino legends who took the stage and inspired the athletes were bowling Hall of Famer Bong Coo, Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo Stephen Fernandez, SEA Games and Asian Games wushu champ Willy Wang.
“We have two objectives. One is we need to win the overall title and secondly, we want the 10 other countries to say na iba talaga mag-host ang pinoy,” said Cayetano.
Olympic weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, SEAG back-to-back triathlon gold winner Nikko Huelgas and World gymnastics bronze medalist Caloy Yulo also exhorted their fellow athletes through videos they made while training abroad.

US NCAA tourney: How much are Sweet 16 tickets?

March 28, 2019 | 6:55 pm

LOS ANGELES — The cheapest ticket for this week’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games is at Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
The venue is hosting the Midwest Regional on Friday and Sunday. As of late Wednesday afternoon, tickets to the Friday evening games — Auburn vs. North Carolina and Houston vs. Kentucky — were available for as little as $73 on StubHub. One ticket gets you into both games.
The cheapest ticket for Sunday’s Elite Eight game, featuring Friday’s winners, was going for $46 on StubHub.
It’ll be more costly to see games the other regional venues, with the most expensive site feeling the Zion Effect. Freshman phenom Zion Williamson and the rest of the Duke Blue Devils play Virginia Tech while LSU plays Michigan State on Friday in the East Regional at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena.
Session tickets for that doubleheader were starting at a cool $273 Wednesday afternoon on StubHub. The cheapest ticket available for Sunday’s Elite Eight game featuring Friday’s winners in DC was $142 on StubHub.
The regional games taking place Thursday and Saturday — the South and West — are also more expensive than the Midwest Region games.
In the South, which will be held at Louisville’s KFC Yum Center, tickets were available for as little as $117 on StubHub to see both Virginia play Oregon and Tennessee play Purdue. Tickets to Saturday’s Elite Eight game could be had as cheap as $60.
In the West, at Anaheim’s Honda Center, tickets for the Sweet 16 games pitting Gonzaga against Florida State and Michigan against Texas Tech, were starting at $110 on StubHub. The Elite Eight game on Saturday had tickets available for as low as $90.
Here’s the breakdown of the lowest-priced available tickets on Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster (again, these prices were as of late Wednesday afternoon):
South Region Sweet 16: $103 (Vivid) and $110 (Ticketmaster)East Region Sweet 16: $330 (Vivid) and $323 (Ticketmaster)Midwest Region Sweet 16: $67 (Vivid) and $70 (Ticketmaster)West Region Sweet 16: $106 (Vivid) and $110 (Ticketmaster). — Reuters

PBA goes to Pangasinan for annual All-Star event

March 28, 2019 | 6:54 pm

THE HOMESTRETCH of the elimination round of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament Philippine Cup ceases momentarily to give way to the annual All-Star festivities this weekend in Pangasinan.
Happening in the town of Calasiao, this year’s All-Star weekend begins with the holding of three skills challenge events as aperitif to the night cap that is the revived Rookies/Sophomores versus Juniors selection match.
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ Beau Belga, last year’s Obstacle Course winner, returns to defend his title against a field of big men, namely, Yousef Taha (TNT), Noy Baclao (Alaska), Justine Chua (Phoenix), Mo Tautuaa (NorthPort), Raymar Jose (Blackwater), Prince Caperal (Barangay Ginebra), Brian Faundo (Meralco), Russel Escoto (Columbian Dyip), and Rafi Reavis (Magnolia).
His fellow Rain or Shine (ROS) player James Yap, too, is back to try and keep his Three-Point crown. Angling to take the title away from him are LA Tenorio (Barangay Ginebra), Marcio Lassiter (San Miguel) Matthew Wright (Phoenix), Robert Bolick (NorthPort), Simon Enciso (Alaska), Philip Paniamogan (NLEX), Michael Digregorio (Blackwater), Reden Celda (Columbian Dyip), Baser Amer (Meralco), Roger Pogoy (TNT), and Peter June Simon (Magnolia).
Then there is Slam Dunk king Rey Guevarra of the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters who is seeking to stay at the top of the league’s high-flyers, leading the participants in the slam dunk competition which also has Renz Palma (Blackwater), Chris Newsome (Meralco), Lervyn Flores (NorthPort), and CJ Perez (Columbian Dyip) seeing action.
Meanwhile, making a comeback is the RSJ game, featuring the PBA’s upstarts, which was first played 30 years ago.
Bannering the rookie-sophomores team is Mr. Perez. Joining him are Jason Perkins (Phoenix), Jeron Teng (Alaska), Messrs. Bolick and Jose, Abu Tratter and Paul Desiderio (Blackwater), Mark Tallo (NLEX), Trevis Jackson (Meralco), Rey Nambatac and Javee Mocon (Rain or Shine), and Robbie Herndon (Magnolia).
The Juniors, for their part, have Mac Belo and Ael Banal of Blackwater, Messrs. Pogoy and Wright, Jio Jalalon (Magnolia), Carl Bryan Cruz (Alaska), Kevin Ferrer (Barangay Ginebra), Rashawn McCarthy and Russel Escoto (Columbian), Mike Tolomia (Meralco), Ed Daquioag (Rain or Shine) and Von Pessumal (San Miguel).
On Saturday, the second day of the festivities, will be the grand fan’s day with an accompanying music festival with Pupil, Gloc9 and JKris performing.
Then on Sunday, March 31, will have the Shooting Stars, 3×3 Challenge and the weekend’s highlight — the North All-Stars versus South All-Stars match.
Voted by the fans to start for the North team are Calvin Abueva (Phoenix), Japeth Aguilar (Barangay Ginebra), Paul Lee (Magnolia), Messrs. Tenorio and Lassiter (San Miguel).
The North reserves are Stanley Pringle (Northport), Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos (San Miguel), Gabe Norwood (Rain or Shine), Jayson Castro and Troy Rosario (TNT), Chris Banchero (Alaska), Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra), Mr. Perkins, and Marc Pingris (Magnolia). PBA legends Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc of the Shell franchise fame are also part of team. Coaching the North team is Louie Alas of Phoenix.
Starting for the South, meanwhile, are June Mar Fajardo (San Miguel), Mr. Yap, Scottie Thompson and Greg Slaughter (Barangay Ginebra) and Mark Barroca (Magnolia). The reserves are Chris Ross (San Miguel), Messrs. Amer, Simon, Jalalon, Pogoy and Belo, Terrence Romeo (San Miguel), Poy Erram (NLEX) and Joe Devance (Barangay Ginebra). Purefoods legends Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codiñera spice up the squad. Rain or Shine Caloy Garcia will be the South coach.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said they are “happy” to bring the PBA All-Star festivities to Calasiao, seeing how it has taken care of the league when it pays a visit there. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Federer beats Medvedev into Miami Open quarters

March 28, 2019 | 6:54 pm

MIAMI — A clinical Roger Federer took a confident step towards a fourth Miami Open title on Wednesday, easing past 13^th-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-2 to book his spot in the quarter-finals.
Federer, a winner of 100 career titles, can look back on dozens of brilliant performances and the Swiss maestro could add his ruthless fourth-round win over the red hot Russian to that list.
With 17 match wins, no player has had more success this year than the lanky Russian but Medvedev had no answers for a rampaging Federer, who needed just 61 minutes to reach the last eight, where he will take on towering sixth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson.
“There were really long rallies, tactical points. The big points went my way and that was the difference,” said Federer.
“I’m serving great this week and hope I can keep it up in the next round.”
The match got off to a routine start until Federer took control.
With Medvedev 4-3 up in the first, the 20-times grand slam champion swept the next five games to take the opener and a 2-0 lead in the second.
Medvedev halted the bleeding with a hold at 2-1 but there was no stopping the fourth-seeded Federer who claimed a second break to go up 5-2 and then had an easy hold to seal a business-like victory.
The Russian could not convert any of his three breakpoints, while Federer took all three of his.
Federer’s fourth-round contest had been scheduled for Tuesday but was moved due to rain, giving the 37-year-old Swiss little time to recover before facing the hard-hitting Anderson, who was a 7-5 7-5 winner over Australian Jordan Thompson.
Defending champion John Isner came out on the winning side of two tie-breakers in his afternoon battle with Roberto Bautista Agut to advance 7-6(1) 7-6(5) to the semi-finals of the tournament, where he has yet to drop a set.
The seventh-seeded American thumped 25 aces to see off the Spaniard and will next face either 18-year-old Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime or defensive baseliner Borna Coric, who play their quarter-final in the night session on Wednesday. — Reuters

Curry, Durant propel GS Warriors past Grizzlies

March 28, 2019 | 6:53 pm

LOS ANGELES — The Golden State Warriors needed a late surge and 28 points apiece from Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant to hold off the host Memphis Grizzlies 118-103 on Wednesday night.
Curry hit six 3-pointers and Durant missed just one shot for the Warriors (51-23), who moved a half-game ahead of Denver (50-23) in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Warriors, who own a 2-1 lead over the Nuggets in their season series, host Denver one final time on April 2.
Jonas Valanciunas (27 points, 13 rebounds) and Bruno Caboclo (17 points, 13 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for Memphis, which lost for just the second time in its last seven home games.
The Warriors found themselves trailing 92-91 after two free throws by Chandler Parsons with 9:25 remaining, before taking the lead for good on a Shaun Livingston hoop nine seconds later.
Durant then scored the next seven points (two free throws, a 3-pointer and a two-point jumper) to increase the Golden State lead to 100-92 with seven minutes to play.
After a 3-pointer by Caboclo and a free throw by Valanciunas cut the Memphis deficit in half, the Warriors got two consecutive hoops from Livingston and one apiece from Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins to finally pull away from a team that’s already been eliminated from playoff contention.
Curry complemented his 28 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, who won for the fifth time in their last six road games and 25^th time in 37 road games this season.
The Warriors, who complete a two-game trip Friday night at Minnesota, lead the NBA in road winning percentage.
Durant shot 12-for-13 en route to his 28 points, helping Golden State connect on 53.6% for the game. — Reuters

Halep sees off Wang, will face Pliskova in Miami semis

March 28, 2019 | 6:53 pm

MIAMI — Simona Halep overcame a hiccup in the second set to secure a 6-4 7-5 Miami Open quarter-final victory over China’s Wang Qiang on Wednesday, putting the Romanian one win away from reclaiming the world’s top ranking from Naomi Osaka.
Standing in her way will be Karolina Pliskova, who endured a blip of her own in the second set before defeating Marketa Vondrousova 6-3 6-4 in the evening session.
Halep broke Wang three times to race into a 4-1 lead before closing out the first set when she cut off the angle on a short forehand and blasted a winner into the open court.
But Wang came out firing in the second set, breaking Halep three times and holding to love in back-to-back service games to build a 5-1 lead.
The second seed stormed back but Wang nearly forced a third set when she quickly jumped out to 0-40 in the 10^th game, only for the Romanian’s confident net play to get her out of the jam.
Halep then went on to wrap up the win over 18th-seeded Wang in 89 minutes and match her best effort in Miami, which came in 2015 when she lost to Serena Williams in the semis.
“Playing again in the semi-finals is going to be a big challenge. And maybe I can do my best result here and play in the final,” Halep said on court. “It’s going to be a big match in the next round.” — Reuters

Woods is still Woods

March 28, 2019 | 6:52 pm

By all accounts, Tiger Woods had a mediocre round at the Austin Country Club yesterday. Three birdies and three bogeys that included an inexcusable three-putt effort on the 14t^h hole pretty much summed up his up-and-down run. Even his irons, invariably the best clubs on his bag, were off, leading to head-scratching ball positions on the greens — or, worse, short of the greens — even after lengthy discussions with caddie Joe LaCava. And yet the World Number 14 sounded more relieved than downcast in the aftermath, contending that “there’s no scorecard except for whether you won the match or not.”
Needless to say, Woods was on the mark in his assessment. The Dell Technologies Match Play Championship is unlike any other event on the tour schedule. In fact, it’s unlike even previous iterations of the World Fold Championships stop; four players in each of 16 predetermined groups go up in round-robin format to determine who among them advances to sudden-death affairs under match-play conditions. And because holes won, lost, or drawn are counted against a given partner’s tally, the aggregate number of strokes doesn’t matter. After prevailing over PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise, he joked that his score was “not very good. Not very good. I broke 80.”
Moving forward, Woods will have to do much better if he wants to make the weekend. Up next is Brandt Snedeker, who hasn’t been able to put up a number superior to his in the 14 times they’ve been paired together on tour. Still, as he noted, his friend boasts of a hot putter, “and, in this format, that’s what you need to [have].” The good news is that he’s in prime physical shape and far removed from the neck issues that compelled him to miss the Arnold Palmer Invitational early this month. “I’m able to get into a better posture, and that helps. And because of that, I’m able to log in a little bit of practice time.”
That said, the pride of Texas has presented a challenge, especially with swirling winds. Pin placements are on the tough sides, closer to mounds and ridges and potentially damaging to players off misjudged approach shots. Of course, Woods is Woods, arguably the most accomplished match-play competitor in the sport’s history. More than talent and experience, there is his resolve. And with fortunate bounces, he may yet get to negotiate the course seven times over five days and ultimately emerge victorious.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.