GILAS PILIPINAS is ready to play with 11 players in case June Mar Fajardo will not be able to play for the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon.

The team left for FIBA Asia Cup along with the injured reigning three-time Most Valuable Player over the weekend as the Philippines try to reclaim Asian supremacy despite the unfortunate turn of events that happened the past two weeks.

Mr. Fajardo is expected to miss the action in FIBA Asia Cup after suffering a strained right calf injury as reported by Carla Lizardo of News 5. The 6-foot-10 slotman sat out San Miguel Beer’s game Friday night upon the advise of the doctor.

San Miguel Beer team manager Gee Abanilla confirmed to BusinessWorld that Mr. Fajardo left with the members of Gilas Pilipinas. The team also sent the equipment — the Normatech — which he’s been using for rehab on his injury.

“Our physical therapist is in close contact with the PT of Gilas Pilipinas. For now, the doctor’s advise is to rest the injury for three days before using the equipment for rehab,” Mr. Abanilla said in a telephone interview. According to Mr. Abanilla, Mr. Fajardo is suffering from acute exacerbation of chronic tear in his right calf.

“It’s not a complete tear, but it could lead to that if we’re going to force him to play. Right now, the advise is for him to take a one week rest and one week rehab. He had a previous tear on the same calf,” added Mr. Abanilla.

While Mr. Fajardo can suit up and play for Gilas Pilipinas once his condition gets better in the days to come, Mr. Abanilla, was informed by the doctor to rest it as it could lead to a more severe damage on his calf.

“The doctor also told us that the other calf is also developing a tear. I know June Mar is a fighter. He has played injured before, but looking at the long term, it would be advisable for him to rest so that Gilas could use him in future tournaments. The FIBA Asia Cup is not a qualifying tournament anyway,” added Mr. Abanilla.

Mr. Fajardo has trained twice a day several times while preparing for the FIBA Asia Cup — one for Gilas Pilipinas and one for his mother team. He has also played a lot of games and saw heavy minutes for the Beermen, who had won five championships the past three seasons and put themselves in a good position to win the grand slam this season. — Rey Joble

LOS ANGELES — England’s Greg Owen surged to the top of the leaderboard on Saturday in the third round of the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship, the Reno, Nevada, tournament that uses the Modified Stableford scoring system.

Owen, who is seeking his first USPGA Tour victory, had a total of 37 points and leads Derek Fathauer and Stuart Appleby by five points.

He could have had a bigger lead if he hadn’t stumbled badly on the final hole, where his tee shot was in the rough and his fourth shot went into the water in front of the green.

The double-bogey cost him three points under the points system designed to reward aggressive play. The system awards eight points for an albatross, five points for an eagle and two for a birdie.

Bogeys result in a loss of one point and double bogeys or worse mean a loss of three points. Pars don’t affect the score. — AFP

WASHINGTON — Germany’s Alexander Zverev dominated Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-4 Saturday in a showdown of top-10 rivals to reach the ATP and WTA Citi Open final against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.

Zverev, ranked a career-best eighth this week, dropped only seven points on his serve and never faced a break point in the 63-minute affair, extending ninth-ranked Nishikori’s ATP title drought to 30 events over 18 months.

The 20-year-old from Hamburg will try for his fifth career title and fourth of the year Sunday against 45th-ranked Anderson, who ousted 19th-ranked American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4 on the Washington hard courts.

Zverev dominated from the start, winning the first 10 points and 12 of the first 13, Nishikori netting a backhand to surrender a decisive break at love in the second game. Both men held from there, Zverev taking the first set in 28 minutes.

Zverev hit a forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead in the second set and held to the finish, claiming victory when Nishikori netted a forehand.

Zverev, whose fourth-round Wimbledon run was his Grand Slam best, won 31-of-33 first-serve points, all 13 in the first set, and 9-of-14 on his second serve.

Zverev is 2-0 against Anderson, winning a 2015 Washington second-round match and a first-round meeting in May on his way to the Rome title, his third crown of 2017 after Montpellier and Munich.

Anderson reached his first final since winning his third career ATP title in 2015 at Winston-Salem. The lanky 31-year-old from Johannesburg also won at Delray Beach in 2012 and his hometown in 2011.

MAKAROVA INTO WTA FINAL
Russian seventh seed Ekaterina Makarova outlasted French fifth seed Oceane Dodin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to book a berth in Sunday’s women’s final against German fourth seed Julia Goerges, who dispatched compatriot Andrea Petkovic 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. — AFP

OLYMPIC equestrienne Toni Leviste Won the 2-star Grand Prix of Samorin held last Sunday July 30, 2017 at the state of the art sports complex X-Bionic Sphere in Slovakia.

Aboard her 17-year-old chestnut stallion, Maximillian, Leviste bested 60 of the world’s best riders. For the first time in the history of Philippine Equestrian Sport, the Philippine National Anthem was played on European soil.

When interviewed after two tough rounds, where there were no double clear rounds in a field of 60 competitors, Leviste who won with 1-time fault after the second round of the event, commented that she never expected to win the Grand Prix, the top prize of the 2-star international jumping event.

“I came here to do my final training before flying to Malaysia for the Southeast Asian Games. Of course I always give my best and try to ride a smooth, harmonious round with my horses when we go into the arena, but to win the Grand Prix feels like a dream. And to hear our national anthem play on foreign soil with our flag flying proudly in this giant stadium literally brought me tears of joy.”

“Now I know why I continue to ride with passion, after all these years,” says Leviste. “To ride and win for flag and country is the ultimate motivation.”

Leviste and Maximillian also recently qualified for the World Equestrian Games (WEG), the ‘world championships of equestrian sport,’ last July 14, 2017 during the Nations Cup competition in Falsterbo, Sweden.

The WEG will be held in 2018 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA. It is the second most prestigious equestrian event, next only to the Olympics. Toni is the only Filipino equestrian who has ever competed in this world event, her first participation was in 2002 World Championships in Jerez, Spain, aboard her Sydney Olympic mount, Ghandy.

Leviste will be taking her younger mount Loribri, an 8-year-old mare she campaigned with from January to April this year in the United States of America’s jumping league held in Wellington, Palm Beach and Miami.

The duo will see action in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur from Aug. 20-30. This will be the third (3rd) SEA Games participation for Leviste riding for Team Philippines, together with her show jumping teammates Joker Arroyo, Colin Syquia and Chiara Amor.

Unlike any other sport where athletes usually peak in their 20s and finish their careers in their 30s, the longevity of equestrian riders has made Toni Leviste one of the longest serving national athlete for Team Philippines, beginning with her international debut in 1990. Nearly three decades later, she is still representing the Philippine flag in sporting arenas around the world.