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Petecio faces Colombian for spot in semis; Watanabe falls

FILIPINO boxer Nesthy Petecio — NESTHY PETECIO FB PAGE

FILIPINO boxer Nesthy Petecio takes on Colombian Yeni Marcela Arias Castañeda on Wednesday for a spot in the semifinals in the women’s featherweight division that would assure themselves of a medal in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Ms. Petecio of Davao del Sur earned a ticket to the quarterfinals after upsetting top seed Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei by split decision, 3-2, in their Round of 16 encounter on Monday at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.

The judges scored it, 28-29, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28, for the Filipino.

Ms. Petecio hopes to have her winning streak continue against Ms. Castañeda, who was a bronze medal winner at the 2019 Pan American Games.

In case she advances to the semifinals, Ms. Petecio is already sure of a medal since losing semifinalists are given bronze medals.

Meanwhile, Filipino-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe saw her Olympic campaign come to an abrupt end in the opening round of her women’s -63kg match against Cristina Cabana Perez of Spain on Tuesday at the Nippon Budokan.

Ms. Watanabe, the country’s female flag-bearer in the Olympic opening ceremony, was knocked out by Ms. Perez just 38 seconds into the match by way of ippon.

The Philippine bet tried to take down her opponent, but instead saw Ms. Perez transitioned for a corner throw and pounced on Ms. Watanabe after.

Ms. Perez won by a score of 10-0.

“This was a very painful loss for Kiyomi and for us. Very painful indeed. We’re thankful for all the support and we’ll bounce back,” said Dave Carter, Philippine Judo Federation president, shared after Ms. Watanabe’s match.

Ms. Watanabe made her Olympic debut in Tokyo and qualified through the continental rankings.

Later on Tuesday, also set to compete were swimmers Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule as well as weightlifter Elreen Ann Ando.

Mr. Gebbie was to see action in the 100m freestyle while Ms. Rule was to compete in the 200m butterfly at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.

Ms. Ando, meanwhile, competes in the women’s -64kg division and was to come on the heels of the golden conquest of veteran teammate Hidilyn Diaz on Monday. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

San Miguel tries to make it three straight wins in PBA Philippine Cup

THE SAN MIGUEL try to make three wins in a row in the PBA Philippine Cup when they collide against the Blackwater Bossing on Wednesday. — PBA IMAGES

THE San Miguel Beermen try to make it three consecutive wins in the PBA Philippine Cup when they take on the Blackwater Bossing in the first game today at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Opened their campaign in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament with a loss, the Beermen have since been on a roll and steadily climbing the standings.

The most recent of the wins of San Miguel came at the expense of the Northport Batang Pier, 88-86, on July 25, in a game that saw veteran wingman Arwind Santos drain what turned out to be the game-winning basket as time wound down.

San Miguel created separation in the third quarter and was looking to put the game away.

But the Batang Pier had other things in mind, mounting a ferocious comeback to tie the count at 86-all with 7.3 seconds left on the clock.

That set up the Santos heroics.

Off a time out, Marcio Lassiter received the ball and then wove his way into the paint before throwing out a pass to Mr. Santos who calmly drained a 15-foot jumper.

The game-winner capped a solid performance from the 40-year-old former PBA most valuable player, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 32 minutes of play.

CJ Perez top-scored for the Beermen (2-1), finishing with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds.

Alex Cabagnot had 16 points and seven assists while big men Mo Tautuaa and June Mar Fajardo had 11 and eight points, respectively.

“I hope this momentum continues for us. We needed this win and I’m happy that we snatched this game as this gives us some momentum going to the next three games,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria in the post-game press conference following their win.

Standing in the way of the Beermen in the 12:30 p.m. game are the Bossing, who have yet to win a game in three outings to date.

Simon Enciso continues to lead Blackwater in scoring with 15.3 points per game, followed by Mike Tolomia (12.3 ppg) and Kelly Nabong (11.3 ppg).

Also seeing action on Wednesday are the league-leading Rain or Shine Elastopainters (3-0) against the Alaska Aces (1-2) at 3 p.m. and the Meralco Bolts (2-1) versus the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters (1-2) at 6 p.m. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Japan’s hope for tennis gold Osaka bundled out of Tokyo 2020 third round

TOKYO — Japan’s great hope for tennis gold Naomi Osaka was beaten on Tuesday in the third round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics tournament, saying she had not known how to cope with the pressure of the occasion.

The world number two was swiped aside (6-1, 6-4) by Czech Markéta Vondroušová in a shock result which dealt a blow to Japan’s gold rush hopes.

Tokyo 2020 had marked Osaka’s first tournament since pulling out of Roland Garros in May, when she said she had been suffering from depression for almost three years.

Osaka had said then she would boycott news conferences to raise awareness of players’ mental well-being, but spoke to reporters after this defeat.

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure, this time around,” she said. “I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in an Olympics before and for the first one to be here was a bit much.

“But I think I’m glad with how I played… with taking that break that I had. I’ve taken long breaks before and I’ve managed to do well.

“And I’m not saying that I did that right now, but I do know that my expectations were a lot higher than how my result was. So… I think my attitude wasn’t that great, but I didn’t really know how to cope with that pressure… so that’s the best that I could have done in this situation. — Reuters

Ateneo Blue Eagles add size with latest recruits

Kai Ballungay (in photo) is one of two Filipino-Americans recently recruited by the Ateneo Blue Eagles. The other is Andrew Bongo. (SM NBTC League Facebook page)

The Ateneo Blue Eagles added size for their campaign in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines with their latest Filipino-American recruits Kai Ballungay and Andrew Bongo.

In a virtual press conference on Monday, team manager Christopher Quimpo and coach Tab Baldwin introduced the new players who are to suit up in the upcoming seasons of the UAAP.

The 6-foot-7 Ballungay will sit out for a year since he will be transferring from California State University, Stanislaus, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II school in the United States. He will be able to play come UAAP Season 85.

Ballungay saw action in the 2019 National Basketball Training Center Finals as part of FilAm Sports which also featured National Basketball Association 2021 Draft prospect Jalen Green.

During the tournament, Ballungay averaged 19.3 points and 9.8 rebounds, per game, catching the eye of a number of universities in the country.

After completing high school in California, he suited for the CSU Stanislaus Warriors for one year but played limited minutes.

In his second year, the pandemic forced him to sit it out before finally deciding to take his game to Ateneo.

In the press conference, Ballungay said he is willing to wait for his turn to play for Ateneo and will use the time during his residency to continue working on his game and getting familiarized with the team’s system.

Bongo, 6’4″, for his part, gets to play immediately once UAAP action resumes in Season 84 next year.

The 18-year-old played for Charter Oak High School in California where he averaged all-around numbers of 22 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 2.2 blocks.

He said he is very excited to play for the reigning three-time UAAP champions Eagles and develop his game.

Currently, Bongo said, they are in process of finalizing the needed documents for him to be able to play for Ateneo.

“We’re really excited to have them join our program. They’ve proven themselves in the US at the high school level, with Kai having a year of university under his belt,” said Mr. Baldwin of their latest recruits.

“Obviously with them we’re bringing more size into the program,” he added.

The UAAP scrapped its entire Season 83 because of the pandemic and is looking to resume next year. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Sports in schools focus of latest PSC summit session

Department of Education (DepEd) Director of Palarong Pambansa Secretariat Joel Erestain is the resource speaker on “Sports in Schools” in the 23rd virtual session of the National Sports Summit 2021 on Wednesday.

Mr. Erestain will talk about the role of the DepEd in the success  of the Palarong Pambansa – the annual national multisport event for student-athletes in elementary and secondary schools – throughout the years. The sporting meet aims to promote sports among the youth at the grassroots level.

“The Philippine Sports Commission and the DepEd have a strong partnership when it comes to promoting and developing the grassroots sports program in the country. Most of oelite athletes now are a product of Palarong Pambansa,” said NSS Project Director Marc Edward Velasco in a statement.

“This is a great opportunity for DepEd to converse with our participants — composed of sports coordinators from different LGUs, stakeholders, and educators to give them an in-depth understanding of what DepEd is doing and to help them start up their sports program in their areas,” he continued.

Mr. Erestain served at the Office of Senator Richard Gordon under the Blue Ribbon Committee. He became the Special Assistant of the President of the Home Guaranty Corporation.

The online PSC summit is aimed at taking insights of different sports stakeholders and using them as foundations in crafting a sustainable and workable short to long-term plan for Philippine sports.

The PSC said all data gathered from the web series will be processed and studied to create a new set of resolutions to be presented to sports leaders for action.

Choco Mucho continues to roll in PVL Open Conference

The Choco Mucho Flying Titans now sport a 4-0 record in the PVL Open Conference following their win over the Cignal HD Spikers on Tuesday. (PVL Media Bureau)

The Choco Mucho Flying Titans continued to roll in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference, defeating the Cignal HD Spikers in three sets, 26-24, 25-12, 25-17, in league action on Tuesday at the PCV Socio-Civic Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.

It was the fourth straight win for Choco Mucho in as many matches and took it to a share of the tournament lead with the Creamline Cool Smashers at 4-0.

Kat Tolentino showed the way for the Flying Titans with 16 points and 17 digs in the win. Bea De Leon and Ponggay Gaston backstopped her with 11 and nine points, respectively.

Choco Mucho found the going tough in the opening set that had it needing to go into extended time to secure the frame.

In the next two sets, however, the Flying Titans were in their collective element, building early leads which they would not relinquish on their way to completing the shutout.

“I admire the players, they’re really working hard, preparing a lot physically, mentally, and spiritually,” said Choco Mucho coach Oliver Almadro after the game, taking note of how his wards are handling the short turnaround in between games in the PVL “bubble.”

Roselyn Doria had nine points for the HD Spikers, which now sport a 1-4 record. Janine Marciano had eight while veteran Rachel Anne Daquis added six points of her own.

Choco Mucho returns to play on Friday against the Bali Pure Water Defenders while Cignal takes on the Perlas Spikers on Thursday. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

American teen wins 100m breaststroke

ALASKAN teenager Lydia Jacoby upstaged her 2016 Olympic champion team mate Lily King to win a surprise gold medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke on Tuesday. The 17-year-old pipped Tatjana Schoenmaker to gold, touching in a time of 1:04.95 with the South African 0.27 behind and King in the bronze medal position in 1:05.54.

British, Russian men, Aussie women shine

BRITAIN enjoyed a one-two success in the men’s 200m freestyle on Tuesday, while Russian swimmers ended US dominance in the 100m backstroke and Kaylee McKeown gave Australia’s women more Olympic gold to celebrate at the Tokyo pool. Tom Dean won gold and teammate Duncan Scott won the silver in the 200m freestyle as the two British swimmers left their rivals in their wake, Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer taking the bronze.

Flora Duffy wins gold for Bermuda

FLORA Duffy achieved instant national hero status when she won Bermuda’s first Olympic gold medal on Tuesday after delivering a dominant run leg for an emphatic victory in the women’s triathlon on a stormy Tokyo course. Duffy, 33, was part of a group of seven who broke clear at the start of the 40km bike but then stamped her authority on the race with a fantastic performance over the 10km run to finish in one hour, 55.36 minutes.

Dygert seeks gold after horror crash

HAD it not been for her horrific crash at the world championships at Imola 10 months ago, the obvious question ahead of Wednesday’s women’s Olympic cycling time trial would have been who will come second behind American Chloe Dygert. The 24-year-old knows only one way to ride: dial up the power to 10 from start to finish and empty the tank.

Japan’s women overcome France

JAPAN overcame France (74-70) with a tenacious defensive display and ruthless three-point shooting to take their first game of the Tokyo Olympics women’s basketball tournament on Tuesday. France struggled to get into their offence as the hosts looked to trap their ball handlers with double and triple teams, while Japan capitalized on French defensive lapses by knocking down a series of clutch three-pointers in the final frame.

Dean at the double, British one-two gold

TOM Dean contracted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) twice in the buildup to the Tokyo Olympics and he also won men’s 200m freestyle gold at the double on Tuesday. The 21-year-old Briton, who spent days in isolation and was unable to exercise earlier in the year, touched out 0.04 ahead of team mate Duncan Scott in his country’s first men’s one-two in the pool since 1908.

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