HANGZHOU, China — After winning the Asian Games gold medal in record fashion last Saturday, EJ Obiena will get something he truly deserves: time to rest.
“Oh, I’m resting,” said the new king of Asian pole vault who flew home to Manila yesterday morning, accompanied by his father, Emerson, barely hours after he delivered the first gold for Team Philippines at the 19th Asian Games here.
The long season — indoor or outdoor — is finally over, and the 27-year-old Filipino pole vault sensation can start thinking of other things aside from winning. He hasn’t gotten any break since coming to the Philippines in September last year for a three-week vacation.
The 6-foot-2 Mr. Obiena set a new Asian Games record of 5.90 meters, which is off his personal best and Asian record of 6.0 meters. Armand Duplantis of Sweden, the reigning Olympic champion, still holds the world record of 6.22 meters.
“We’ll let him rest first,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) President Terry Capistrano the morning after Mr. Obiena’s sensational performance.
“Then after Christmas we can start talking about the Paris Olympics,” Mr. Capistrano added.
“I’m not thinking about it now,” added Mr. Obiena.
This early, he has punched a ticket to Paris, securing the slot when he won the silver medal in the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden last July.
It’s been a great year for Mr. Obiena, highlighted by victories in the SEA Games in Cambodia and the Asian Championships in Thailand and a silver in the World Championships in Hungary.
Mr. Capistrano said Mr. Obiena’s victory over China’s Huang Bokai (5.65) and Saudi Arabia’s Hussain Al Hizam at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium seemed like “routine.”
“That’s why I’m very happy that he pulled through. I can imagine the pressure on EJ. And yet he pulled through,” the athletics chief added.
Mr. Capistrano is hoping that Mr. Obiena’s victory will further lift the spirit of Team Philippines, which has one silver and seven bronze medals heading to the final week of competition.
“This is not just about athletics but our campaign here in general. I hope we win more medals in the other sports,,” he said. — Abac Cordero
COACH Mark Torcaso expects the Filipinas to come out of their 19th Asian Games experience, especially the tough matchups with elite sides Korea and Japan, wiser as they shift focus to the coming Olympic Qualifiers.
The Pinay booters nailed a historic quarterfinal stint in the Hangzhou Asiad in their first tournament under Mr. Torcaso, who took over last August after the team’s FIFA Women’s World Cup milestone.
The Hangzhou campaign saw the Filipinas score victories over Hong Kong (3-1) and Asean nemesis Myanmar (3-0) in between a 1-5 loss to world No. 20 Korea en route to the KO rounds. World No. 8 Japan eventually shut the door on the Filipinas, who played one player down from the 28th minute on, with an 8-1 romp Sunday.
“I’ve got no doubt those who played in those very competitive games (against two Top 20 teams) and even the two we won, will have grown from that and are going to be better going to the three tough games we’re going to play at the Olympic Qualifiers,” Mr. Torcaso said in an online presscon from China yesterday.
From the Asiad, the Filipinas are booked for showdowns with host Australia, fresh from its semifinal finish in the last World Cup, Chinese Taipei and Iran in the second round of the Qualifiers for Paris on Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 in Perth.
“No doubt we’re going to be ready mentally. We’ve come up against two good nations here (Korea and Japan), we’re going to be ready to play against three good teams in the OQT,” said Mr. Torcaso.
According to the Aussie mentor, the Hangzhou meet served the team well in terms of familiarization with his system and one another and gaining match experience.
“We had a unique opportunity to work with the players prior to the Olympic qualifiers and that’s the one thing we were happy with. Coming in and being appointed on such short notice, we wanted to get as much time with the players as possible,” he said.
“It definitely served its purpose. We got to play against some good countries and got a feel of what it’s like to play against two Top 20 nations and that’s very, very important for us.” — Olmin Leyba
THE PHILIPPINES’ Carlos Yulo failed to qualify in the individual all-around finals in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium early yesterday.
The two-time world champion wound up at 59th place with a total score of 67.765 after four of the six divisions were played would not make the 24-man final cut where the top eight would claim a spot to next year’s Paris Olympics.
He had 14.666 in parallel bars, 14.6 in floor exercise, 13.7 in horizontal bar, 13.233 in pommel horse, 11.566 in still rings and zero in vault.
He fell in still rings and vault.
Mr. Yulo could still qualify in the finals of floor exercise as he was currently running third.
The top eight in each apparatuses will make the finals where the winner gets the lone spot to next year’s Paris Olympics.
There are still more chances for Mr. Yulo to qualify to Paris as there are more qualifying competitions set next year.
Mr. Yulo will have a new Japanese coach in January after he parted ways with Munehiro Kugimiya. — Joey Villar
SAVING the best for last, Meralco broke through in the Doha International Basketball Championship with a 78-50 romp over Kuwaiti club Al Arabi Saturday night in Qatar.
Allein Maliksi caught fire with 18 points on a five-of-eight clip from beyond the arc while Alvin Pasaol shot 16 to lead the Meralco Bolts to their lone win of the tournament after dropping their first four assignments.
On account of this, Luigi Trillo’s charges finished seventh overall ahead of Al Arabi in the eight-team field from seven countries.
Beirut Sports Club reigned supreme after clobbering Sagasse, 90-62, in an all-Lebanese finals.
Libya’s Al Ahly took the bronze via its 84-79 verdict over Egypt’s Al Zamalek while Faith Union Sport of Morocco grabbed fifth at the expense of Iraq’s Dijla University, 82-75.
The Bolts, who battled their Arab rivals without key players Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan and Anjo Caram, finally found their groove in their final assignment.
Mr. Maliksi ignited and capped a 10-1 barrage late in the second to give Meralco a 45-34 cushion. Momentum on their side, the Bolts outplayed the Kuwaitis in a low-scoring third, 12-5, then delivered the 21-11 KO blow in the fourth.
The Bolts pulled through despite limited appearances by their imports, Feron Hunt, who went scoreless in seven minutes, and Uros Lukovic, who scored two in four minutes. — Olmin Leyba
BAGUIO CITY — A 13-year-old Muay Thai prodigy will represent his home province Kalinga and the Philippines, in the ongoing world martial arts tourney at Kemer, Antalya, Turkey.
Salko Osmundo Gonnay Velic, a shining fighter trained under Team “Tribu Banwar” (Hero Tribe) in Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga boarded the plane on Sept. 30, 2023 bound to Turkey.
He will fight his way to the International Federation of Muay Thai Associations (IFMA) 2023.
Also known as “Boy Tisoy,” Mr. Velic is a pupil of Saint Louis College of Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga.He traces his roots from Pasil.
According to his coach Erwin Tagure, Mr. Velic’s journey to the world Muay Thai championship and especially his plane fare for Turkey was made possible by the support of his Tribu Banwar team mates, the people from different sectors in Tabuk City, the Local Government Unit and the people of Pasil, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who are from Kalinga among others.
They chipped in to raise the amount needed by the young fighter for his training and transportation.
Also to raise funds, Mr. Velic’s friends and team mates and Tabuk City supporters and benefactors initiated a fund drive where they collected used papers, plastic and other junk materials.
Mr. Tagure said the support reaffirmed his strong belief in Mr.Velic’s abilities.
The coach also said that the young fighter has the it to become a chamption— strong will and determination — inspired greatly by his love of his family. — Artemio A. Dumlao
HANGZHOU, China — The Filipinas have no reason to frown after an 8-1 loss at the hands of the Japanese last Saturday cut short their drive at the 19th Asian Games.
For one, the Philippine women’s football team went beyond expectations here when they reached the quarterfinals at the isolated Wenzhou Sports Centre.
No other Philippine football team — men or women — has gone that far in the Asian Games in the last 65 years.
That’s why for the Filipinas, their campaign in this Asian Games can be considered a successful failure.
“It was a tough tournament. A lot of new things to deal with and adjust to. A new tournament with a different set up. New coaches for us, a new team for our coaches,” said team manager Jeff Cheng.
“What we were ready for, we gave our best. Anywhere we could have done better, we acknowledge, analyze and improve for the next time,” he added.
The Filipinas, under a new coach in Australian Mark Torcaso, took on the Japanese, the reigning champions in the Asian Games and ranked No. 8 in the world, with only 17 players in uniform.
Five starters have gone home to their respective clubs prior to the match.
But the Filipinas still tried, and just couldn’t handle the Japanese side that is tipped to keep the hold medal here — whoever stands in their way.
The rest of the Filipinas flew out of Hangzhou yesterday.
Ace striker Sarina Bolden scored the lone goal for the Filipinas in the 68th minute by heading home a corner from Sara Eggesvik, trimming the deficit to 3-1. It was the first goal conceded by Japan, led by Mami Ueno’s four goals in the second half.
“I give credit to the players. And regardless of the final score or how we got there, in every match, they leave no room for anyone to doubt their will to give their best for the team and for the country,” said Mr. Cheng.
The Philippine Football Federation headed by Mariano Araneta congratulated the team for yet another milestone, which came two months after a historic debut in the FIFA World Cup.
“We will continue to grow,” he said. — Abac Cordero
Games Tuesday (Filoil EcoOil Arena) 2 p.m. — UPHSD vs AU 4 p.m. — SSCR vs LPU
JOSE RIZAL University (JRU) got a couple of doses of redemption after it bested Mapua University, 70-61, and the unsportsmanlike foul that led to the ejection of its star guard JL delos Santos last game was rescinded yesterday in NCAA Season 99 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
The Bombers needed a massive second quarter turnaround in erasing an 11-point opening period deficit and drawing momentum from it in averting repeated comebacks by the Cardinals.
But even before the game was concluded, JRU got a reprieve from league commissioner Tonichi Pujante, who suspended the three referees who officiated the Bombers’ 93-85 overtime defeat to College of St. Benilde Blazers Friday for calling a flagrant foul on Mr. Delos Santos that resulted to the Converge-drafted guard’s disqualification.
“It was ascertained that the elbow of JRU’s JL Delos Santos did not hit CSB’s Mark Sangco. As such, it did not warrant an unsportsmanlike foul,” said Mr. Pujante in a media statement. “In this regard, he should have not been thrown out, thus there is no one-game suspension.
“As for the three referees, they are suspended from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14, 2023 for failure to execute sound judgment, inefficient use of Instant Replay System (IRS) review, as well as for ceasing to assess themselves as game officials,” he added.
Spared from a suspension, Mr. Delos Santos took advantage and dropped six points, six assists and five rebounds while providing the leadership for a JRU team that sprung back into contention with a 2-1 record.
The Cardinals fell to 2-1.
Earlier, Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) pulled the rug from under Letran, 75-65, in staying perfect in two starts while holding the reigning three-peat titlist Letran winless in three outings. — Joey Villar
As expected, the Aces have made their third Finals appearance in four years. After finishing the regular season with the best record in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), they made short work of the Sky and the Wings to claim the Western Conference championship. While they earned the distinction in as few games as possible, however, they had to go through the wringer to emerge victorious the other day; the match was a grind for the most part, with stingy defense mucking up accuracy and efficiency for all the protagonists.
Indeed, uglyball reigned from the get-go, in large measure because the Wings knew they had to make up for resiliency what they lacked in talent. And for a while there, it looked like they would be able to eke out a hard-fought triumph. Unfortunately, they all but froze in the crunch. Up by eight with a tick under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, they went on to miss 10 shots that included a prayer for a tie as time expired. Their collective tightness under pressure was all their opponents needed to frame the outcome and clinch the series.
Which, in a nutshell, was why the Aces were more relieved than anything in the aftermath. They certainly didn’t want to face the Wings anew in hostile territory today. By taking care of business, they get for themselves at least an additional couple of days of rest against their prospective rivals in the title series. The Liberty and the Sun still need to do battle in Game Four — and potentially Game Five — of the East Finals before earning the right to face them for the hardware.
If nothing else, the Aces proved that they can get down and dirty as well in order for them to meet their ultimate objective. Even as their success has largely been predicated on their offense, they’re no slouches on the other end of the court. Not for nothing are they led by two-time Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson. It’s no coincidence that the Wings’ Satou Sabally, newly minted Most Improved Player, had an atrocious series, shooting a deflating 12-of-46 from the field all told.
Moving forward, the Aces cannot but feel confident of their chances to repeat as WNBA champions. They couldn’t care less who they will be up against in the Finals, although they do acknowledge that the Liberty will be much bigger threats, having won against them thrice in five encounters. Still, they have been there and done that, and, with Wilson at the helm and such notables as Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, and Alysha Clark providing support, they understand that their destiny is theirs to carve.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIT rescue personnel paddle in rafts as they check buildings for victims trapped in heavy flooding in the New York City suburb of Mamaroneck, New York, US, Sept. 29, 2023. — REUTERS
TORRENTIAL downpours that caused flash flooding in New York City (NYC) on Friday reflect a “new normal” due to the effects of climate change, New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned on Saturday, as the city began drying out after one of its wettest days ever.
Almost eight inches (20 cm) of rain fell in some parts of the most populous US city, enough to enable a sea lion at the Central Park Zoo to swim briefly out of the confines of her pool enclosure.
While the risk of flooding in the city had receded by midday Saturday, a municipal hospital in the borough of Brooklyn said it would evacuate all patients and staff following a power failure on Friday.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull had switched to backup power after Friday’s neighborhood outage, but repairs will require the power to be shut off entirely for several days, hospital officials said. The facility was transferring its 120 patients to other hospitals on Saturday, a process expected to take eight hours.
The intense rainfall turned some streets into rivers, stranding buses and cars for hours, and forced some subway and commuter rail lines to shut down. Flights were delayed or canceled, and one terminal at LaGuardia Airport was evacuated.
“This is unfortunately what we have to expect as the new normal,” Ms. Hochul said.
A state of emergency, which allows faster allocation of resources to deal with a crisis, will remain in effect for the next six days, Ms. Hochul said. No fatalities were reported as a result of the storm.
President Joseph R. Biden was briefed on the flooding on Friday and Saturday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was prepared to assist if needed, according to the White House. — Reuters
BEIJING — The United States is the true “empire of lies,” the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday, lashing out at a US State Department report that accused Beijing of ploughing billions of dollars annually into information manipulation efforts.
China is manipulating global media through censorship, data harvesting and covert purchases of foreign news outlets, the US State Department said in the report on Thursday.
Despite the unprecedented resources devoted to the campaign, Beijing had hit “major setbacks” when targeting democratic countries, due to local media and civil society push-back, according to the report, which was produced under a congressional mandate to detail state information manipulation.
The report has disregarded facts, and is itself false information, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
The agencies of the US State Department that produced the report “were the source of false information and the command post of ‘cognitive warfare’,” the Chinese ministry said.
“Facts have repeatedly proven that the United States is the true ‘empire of lies’,” it added.
The US report comes amid controversy over China’s attempts in recent years to increase the global footprint of its government-controlled media. Beijing is seeking to combat the negative images of China it feels are propagated by global media. — Reuters
SYDNEY — Australia’s southeast on Sunday sweltered in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and led authorities to issue fire bans for large swathes of New South Wales state.
The nation’s weather forecaster said temperatures would be up to 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in some areas, with Sydney, the capital of Australia’s most populous state New South Wales, set to hit 36 C (96.8 F).
At Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, the temperature was 34.6 C (94.3 F) at 2 p.m. (0300 GMT), more than 11 degrees above the October mean maximum temperature, according to forecaster data.
Australia faces a high-risk bushfire season following the onset of an El Niño weather event, recently announced, which is typically associated with extreme events such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts.
State Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib announced the start of an official bushfire danger period, with the “scorching” heat lifting the risk for the week ahead.
“Not only is it hot, it’s dry and it’s windy and those conditions combined are the perfect storm,” Mr. Dib said.
Fire authorities on Sunday issued nine total fire bans for parts of the state to reduce the chance of bushfires.
Further south in Victoria state, authorities issued an emergency evacuation order for a rural area in the Gippsland region, about 320 kilometers (198 miles) east of the state capital Melbourne, due to an out-of-control bushfire.
Australia’s last two fire seasons have been quiet compared with the catastrophic 2019-2020 “Black Summer” of bushfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.
In Sydney, local resident Sandy Chapman said she was worried about the mix of extreme heat and wind.
“It doesn’t take long to start a fire and have it burning and it’s very scary,” Ms. Chapman said.
Sydneysider Katie Kell hoped there would be no repeat of bushfires on the same scale as 2019-20.
“I don’t know, with how hot it’s been since the start of spring, I’m not too confident,” Ms. Kell said. — Reuters
BRATISLAVA — Slovakia’s leftist former Prime Minister (PM) Robert Fico beat his progressive rival in a parliamentary election after campaigning to end military aid to Ukraine, but he will need to win over allies to form the next government, nearly complete results showed on Sunday.
With 98% of voting districts reporting in the Saturday election, Mr. Fico’s SMER-SSD party led with 23.37% of the vote. The liberal Progressive Slovakia (PS) followed with 16.86% and the HLAS (Voice) party, which could become the kingmaker for forming the next government, was third with 15.03%.
Former Fico colleague and leftist HLAS leader Peter Pellegrini kept his options open on future coalitions.
A government led by Mr. Fico and his SMER-SSD party would see NATO member Slovakia joining Hungary in challenging the European Union’s (EU) consensus on support for Ukraine, just as the bloc looks to maintain unity in opposing Russia’s invasion.
It would also signal a further shift in the region against political liberalism, which may be reinforced if conservative PiS wins an election in Poland later this month.
Mr. Fico’s party is more nationalist and socially conservative, criticizing social liberalism, which it says is imposed form Brussels. The PS is liberal on green policies, LGBT rights, deeper European integration and human rights.
“We do want to evaluate everything, so we will wait for the final count,” said Robert Kalinak, a SMER-SSD candidate and long-time Fico ally, adding the party would comment on the full results later on Sunday.
Exit polls had favored PS, but the results went Mr. Fico’s way, opening the prospect he may win a fourth stint as premier after leading governments in 2006-2010 and 2012-2018.
The first party across the line was expected to get a mandate from President Zuzana Caputova to lead talks on forming a parliamentary majority and, if successful, a government.
Mr. Fico may align with HLAS, which split away from SMER-SSD in 2020, and the nationalist Slovak National Party that won 5.68%.
“The distribution of seats confirms HLAS as a party without which any normally functioning government coalition cannot be put together,” Mr. Pellegrini said as most results were known. “If you ask me if we prefer any combination or coalition, I want to say not at all.”
PS has advocated maintaining Slovakia’s strong backing for Ukraine and would also likely follow a liberal line within the EU on issues such as majority voting to make the bloc more flexible, green policies and LGBT rights.
The party’s leader, Michal Simecka, speaking when most votes were counted, did not give up hope he could form the next government, depending how possible smaller allies end up.
“It remains our aim for Slovakia to have after this election a stable pro-European government that will care for the rule of law and which begins to solve and invest into areas key for our future,” Mr. Simecka, a former reporter and Oxford graduate, told supporters.
Any coalition that PS could potentially form would likely need HLAS and include more right-wing or socially conservative parties, which would blunt its socially progressive and EU-integration drive.
The incoming government in the nation of 5.5 million will take over a ballooning budget deficit forecast to be the highest in the euro zone.
WARMER TOWARDS RUSSIA Mr. Fico has ridden on dissatisfaction with a bickering center-right coalition, whose government collapsed last year, triggering the election six months early. In campaigning, he stressed concern about a rise in the number of migrants passing through Slovakia to Western Europe.
Mr. Fico’s views reflect traditionally warm sentiments towards Russia among many Slovaks, which have gathered strength on social media since the Ukraine war started.
He has also pledged to end military supplies to Ukraine and strive for peace talks — a line close to that of Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orban, but rejected by Ukraine and its allies, who say this would only encourage Russia.
The far-right Republika party, which was seen as a possible ally for Mr. Fico but unacceptable to others, failed to win any seats.
Mr. Fico was forced to resign in 2018 after mass protests against graft that followed the murder of an investigative journalist.
Mr. Pellegrini, a SMER-SSD member at the time, took over for him and led the government until 2020, when center-right parties pledging to weed out graft swept an election. But their government collapsed last year after internal bickering, opening the way to Saturday’s early election.
Analysts and diplomats have said Mr. Fico might tame this rhetoric if he takes power, as he did in the past. — Reuters
