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Harris rebukes Trump in campaign-trail debut

WILMINGTON, Del. — Kamala Harris made her campaign-trail debut as Joe Biden’s Democratic running mate on Wednesday, delivering a strong rebuke of President Donald Trump’s leadership and highlighting the historic significance of her new role.

Ms. Harris said Mr. Biden, the former vice president under President Barack Obama, had recognized the critical moment being faced by the country by picking her to be the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major-party US presidential ticket.

“Today, he takes his place in the ongoing story of America’s march toward equality and justice as the only person who served alongside the first Black president, and has chosen the first Black woman as his running mate,” said Ms. Harris, a US senator from California.

Nearly nine out of 10 Democrats approved of Ms. Harris as Mr. Biden’s pick, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

Forced by the coronavirus pandemic to stage a more subdued launch than would be expected from a typical presidential campaign, the new running mates managed to display a personal connection that dates back to Ms. Harris’ friendship with Mr. Biden’s son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015.

Ms. Harris said she had long admired Mr. Biden’s commitment to his family and country, and she described him as ready to meet the challenges created by Trump’s failures in handling the pandemic and its economic consequences, as well as racial unrest.

“This is a moment of real consequence for America,” she said. “Everything we care about — our economy, our health, our kids, the kind of country we live in — it’s all on the line.”

“America is crying out for leadership, yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him, a president who is making every challenge we face even more difficult to solve,” Ms. Harris said.

The speech, delivered in a Delaware high school gymnasium near Mr. Biden’s home, featured no cheering crowds. The two candidates wore masks as they arrived and kept their social distance on a stage flanked by state flags.

The joint appearance came just days before Mr. Biden will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination at next week’s party convention, which will take place largely as a virtual event due to COVID-19.

The Republican convention, where Mr. Trump is set to be nominated to seek a second four-year term, follows a week later and kicks off a 10-week sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3.

STUFF OF PRESIDENTS
In choosing Ms. Harris, Mr. Biden selected a former rival for the nomination whose most memorable campaign moment came during a televised debate when she criticized his past position on using busing to integrate schools and talked about its effect on her as a little girl.

Mr. Biden on Wednesday said her addition to the ticket sent a powerful message to girls across America.

“This morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up — especially little black and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities — today, just maybe, they’re seeing themselves in the first time in a new way. As the stuff of presidents, and vice-presidents,” Mr. Biden said.

In recent months, as unrest has convulsed many US cities following the May police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis, Mr. Harris has been a prominent voice calling for change. She has marched alongside protesters and pushed legislation to reform policing practices.

Some activists have said her work in the Senate had helped temper concerns about her past as a prosecutor in California and could build enthusiasm among some of the party’s liberal voters for the more centrist Mr. Biden.

Ms. Harris is the daughter of immigrants, her mother from India and her father from Jamaica. On Wednesday, Ms. Harris recalled her parents’ involvement in the US civil rights movement, and her friendship with Beau Biden, who was attorney general of Delaware when Harris was attorney general in California. She stressed that, like Mr. Biden, “my family means everything to me.”

Ms. Harris, 55, was announced as Biden’s choice on Tuesday after a selection process that drew extra scrutiny thanks to Biden’s age. The 77-year-old would be the oldest president ever if he wins, raising speculation that he would not seek reelection in 2024.

At a joint fundraiser with Ms. Harris later on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said his campaign had raised $26 million and had 150,000 new contributors in the 24 hours since he revealed his pick.

Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House news conference that he had watched some of the Biden-Harris rollout event and was surprised his Democratic opponent had chosen someone who failed in her own presidential bid.

Ms. Harris thanked Joe Biden and his wife Jill for welcoming her into their extended family, specifically mentioning the former second lady, who described Ms. Harris’ attacks on Biden during the primary debate as a “punch to the gut.”

She said Joe Biden had proven his empathy and connection with those who are suffering.

“He’s someone whose first response when things get tough is never to think about himself, but to take care of everybody else,” Ms. Harris said. — Reuters

2 Chinese patients test positive months after virus recovery

TWO PATIENTS in China that recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) months ago tested positive for the coronavirus again, raising concern of the virus’ ability to linger and reappear in people who it previously infected.

A 68-year-old woman in the central Chinese province of Hubei, where the novel coronavirus first surfaced in December, tested positive on Sunday, six months after she was diagnosed with Covid-19 and recovered. Another man found to have contracted the disease in April after returning from abroad tested positive in Shanghai on Monday but hasn’t shown any symptoms.

None of the patients’ close contacts has tested positive for the virus, but they have been placed under quarantine, local authorities said.

The two cases are the latest addition to a growing number of “virus reactivation” anecdotes found among patients believed to have recovered from the viral infection, which has sickened more than 20 million worldwide and killed 748,000. While it is rare for recovered patients to test positive again, the phenomenon raises questions over why some patients suffer from long-term symptoms, and whether any immunity to the disease might be too ephemeral to protect against re-infection.

Some studies have shown the level of protective antibodies an infected person may build up to fight the virus quickly drop after only a few months, possibly making them susceptible to the same pathogen a second time. However, there is little evidence so far that re-infection has been occurring in this pandemic.

Some experts have raised the possibility that other cells continue to provide immunity even after antibodies fade. Researchers in South Korea have suggested that the virus detected in patients months after recovery could be the vestiges of dead virus particles that are no longer infectious. — Bloomberg

Russia says medics to get anti-COVID shots in 2 weeks, some Russians wary

MOSCOW – Russia said on Wednesday the first batch of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine would be rolled out within two weeks and rejected as “groundless” safety concerns aired by some experts over Moscow’s rapid approval of the drug.

The vaccine, called “Sputnik V” in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, has yet to complete its final trials and some scientists said they feared Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

“It seems our foreign colleagues are sensing the specific competitive advantages of the Russian drug and are trying to express opinions that in our opinion are completely groundless,” Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the day after President Vladimir Putin announced it had won regulatory approval.

On the streets of Moscow, some Russians said they would be too scared to try the vaccine, while others agreed with their government that scepticism expressed by foreign experts was driven by jealousy.

“I don’t trust Russian vaccines in general, I definitely won’t get vaccinated,” said Ekaterina Sabadash, 36, speaking outside Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre.

Alexander, a photographer, was also wary. “Until it goes through (final) clinical trials and we get some confirmed results, I would be scared to get it done,” he said.

Others said they understood why Russia was in a hurry to get a new vaccine and trusted it, but doubted they would really have a say in whether to have it.

“I’m a teacher and they’ll recommend we get it,” said Irina Fashchevskaya, a Moscow resident. “We’ll be forced to do it.”

Officials have said that the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, would be administered to people, including doctors, on a voluntary basis in the final trial. Mass roll-out in Russia is expected to start in October.

Scientists from Germany the United States and Britain have queried the wisdom of approving the vaccine before testing is complete, saying it was risky from a safety point of view.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, has spoken of an information war against his country, an assertion that finds sympathy with Russians weary of what they regard as years of Western condescension.

Mikhail Mechyov, a 42-year-old Moscow resident, said he saw jealousy behind Western warnings.

“It’s natural to be cautious, but they are aimed at belittling the achievement of our country,” he said. “I think a lot has been done and it’s great there is a vaccine.”

RUSSIAN WARNING
The Moscow-based Association of Clinical Trials Organizations (ACTO), a trade body representing the world’s top drugmakers in Russia, had urged the health ministry to postpone the vaccine’s approval until the final trial had been completed.

“It’s the ambition, the desire to be first in a field in which, unfortunately, Russia cannot vie for a top spot,” executive director Svetlana Zavidova told Reuters.

“Our task is now to warn the population because we so far don’t understand how they (the authorities) are going to carry out mass vaccination.”

Final trials, normally carried out on thousands of participants, are considered essential in determining safety and efficacy. Only about 10% of clinical trials are successful.

The Philippines and Kazakhstan have expressed interest in the vaccine, while a senior World Health Organization says it has not received enough information to evaluate it.

Roman, a taxi driver in the Vladimir region, invoked a conspiracy theory to explain why he would be avoiding it.

“It’s all about a global plan to put microchips into people being pushed by Bill Gates. I have zero trust,” he said.

Heidi Larson, who leads the Vaccine Confidence Project (VCP), a global surveillance programme on vaccine trust, said she feared Russia’s rush could further dent public trust.

A survey in 19 countries, carried out by VCP and Business Partners to CONVINCE, a U.S./UK initiative that is partly government funded, is set to show that Russians were the least trusting of vaccines.

Mr. Putin, who said the vaccine had already been administered to one of his daughters without any problems, and a string of other officials have insisted it is safe. — Reuters

LA Clippers lock up no. 2 seed with win

PAUL GEORGE scored 27 points and Kawhi Leonard added 26, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Denver Nuggets 124-111 on Wednesday night near Orlando.

Lou Williams had 23 points and seven assists off the bench for the Clippers, who clinched the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference. They will meet the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs, starting next week.

The Nuggets will be the conference’s no. 3 seed.

Ivica Zubac had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Clippers.

Reserve forward Jerami Grant scored 25 points and pulled down six rebounds for Denver. Nikola Jokic finished with 17 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds while Michael Porter, Jr. chipped in 11 points. Jamal Murray was held to 10 points, and Torrey Craig also had 10.

PACERS 108-ROCKETS 104
Doug McDermott scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Indiana held off a late rampage by James Harden — and an injury to T.J. Warren — to beat Houston.

By virtue of a win in its second-to-last regular-season game, Indiana clinched at least the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round playoff matchup with the fourth-seeded Miami Heat.

The Pacers rested Warren, whom Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said is dealing with plantar fasciitis. According to reports, the injury isn’t expected to keep Warren from playing in the postseason.

RAPTORS 125-76ers 121
The 76ers welcomed back Joel Embiid for a first-half cameo, then blew a late seven-point lead and watched as the Raptor’s Stanley Johnson hit a tie-breaking follow shot with 5.9 seconds remaining to clinch a four-point victory.

Embiid, who injured his left ankle Sunday against Portland and sat out Tuesday’s game with Phoenix, played 14 first-half minutes and had five points and nine rebounds. Tobias Harris had a game-high 22 points and Furkan Korkmaz 21 for Philadelphia, which is locked into sixth place in the East and a first-round playoff matchup with Boston.

Chris Boucher and Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with 19 apiece. Norman Powell added 17 points and Pascal Siakam had 15 for Toronto, which has clinched second place in the East.

HEAT 116-THUNDER 115
Darius Bazley scored 16 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Mike Muscala hit two 3-pointers in the final minute to lift Oklahoma City to a come-from-behind win over Miami that featured reserve players in the second half.

The Thunder trailed by as many as 22 points in the fourth period but outscored the Heat 34-15 in the quarter. The first tied it with 34.8 seconds to play. After Miami regained the lead on a Solomon Hill layup, Muscala hit another 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining.

An attempted 3-pointer by Tyler Herro (career-high 30 points) hit off the front of the rim at the buzzer to seal Oklahoma City’s win. — Reuters

Filipino MMA fighter Mark Striegl excited over possible UFC debut

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

LONG wanted to parade his combat sports skills at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Filipino Mark “Mugen” Striegl could finally see his dream fulfilled as he is on the brink of getting a fight in the world-renowned promotion.

Currently in Las Vegas training with Syndicate MMA, Mr. Striegl, 32, is reportedly “just a phone call away” from securing a debut fight at the UFC, something that he is very excited about considering fighting in the promotion’s famed Octagon has always eluded him in more than a decade of parading his wares in mixed martial arts (MMA).  

“I was in Baguio and I got a call from my coach, George Castro. And Coach Castro told me that Ruby Sports Entertainment, a management company over here that I’m signed with and works with Coach Castro, had told him that if I can get to Las Vegas from the Philippines that there will be a very high chance that I get a UFC fight, especially during this COVID times,” said Mr. Striegl in Wednesday’s episode of Tiebreaker Vods’ The Hit List podcast.

“We are currently in talks and we should get [a fight] soon,” added the reigning Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) featherweight champion.

Varying reports, however, have already linked Mr. Striegl taking on Timur Valiev of Russia in a bantamweight clash at UFC Fight Night on Aug. 22 at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas..

Finally at the doorstep of what he considers as the “Super Bowl of MMA,” Mr. Striegl, who also fought in organizations like ONE Championship and Pacific Xtreme Combat apart from the URCC, said to be a position where is now is just a blessing and that he intends to make full use of it. .

“I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity. You have to keep trying if this is your passion. I fought everywhere but the UFC is the promotion that has eluded me in my career. And now I’m trying to make this happen,” he said.

Mr. Striegl (18-2) had his last MMA fight in April last year at the URCC against Japanese Shunichi Shimizu which was ruled as a no-contest (low blow), leaving the Filipino fighter to retain his title.

In last year’s Southeast Asian Games, Mr. Striegl competed for the Philippines in the martial art of sambo and won gold.

He said it was a great experience for him competing for the country and that the success they had in sambo as a team speaks volume of the potential of Filipinos to excel in the sport.

UFC 252: MIOCIC VS CORMIER 3
Meanwhile on Sunday, Aug. 16, the third fight in the trilogy between heavyweights Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier will happen in Las Vegas.

The fight will act as a decider after the two fighters split their previous two fights.

Mr. Miocic (19-3) took back the heavyweight title from Mr. Cormier (22-2) in August last year by technical knockout (punches) in the fourth round.

Also seeing action at UFC 252 are bantamweights Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera; heavyweight Junior dos Santos against Jairzinho Rozenstruik; and bantamweight John Dodson versus Merab Dvalishvili.

UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 will be broadcast locally over FOX Sports. FOX Sports is on Channel 263 on Cignal TV.

Azkals World Cup qualifying matches deferred to next year

THE Philippine national men’s football team will have to wait a little longer before resuming with its joint FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 bid after sport governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decided to defer matches to next year because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Reset for October and November, from the original schedule of March and June, the qualifying matches had been moved to a later date anew as FIFA and AFC deemed it necessary to protect the health and safety of all participants amid the prevailing conditions with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis globally.  

Affected matches of the Philippine Azkals were those in Group A against Guam (Oct. 8), China (Nov. 12) and Maldives (Nov. 17).

The new schedule of the matches will be announced in due course.

The Azkals are currently in third spot in Group A of the joint qualifiers with seven points built on a 2-1-2 record.

Syria (5-0-0) is on top of the heap with 15 points, followed by China (2-1-1) with seven. Maldives (2-0-3) is fourth with six points while Guam (0-0-5) has no points and is already eliminated in the race.

The top teams in the groupings advance to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers and earn a spot in the Asian Cup.

The Philippines last faced Syria in the qualifiers in November where it lost, 1-0.

FIFA and AFC expressed hope that despite the postponement of the matches anew, the proceedings would eventually take place even as they said that they are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the region to come out with the right decisions moving forward.

VIDAKOVIC OUT AS UNITED CITY COACH
Meanwhile, Serbian coach Risto Vidakovic will not be around when the new season of the Philippines Football League (PFL) kicks off after he confirmed that he will not be the coach of new league entrant United City Football Club.

United City, which took over the spot of PFL champion Ceres-Negros FC, was angling to keep the core of the “Busmen” in its maiden season in the league, including bringing back Coach Vidakovic, for continued competitiveness.

But the Ceres coach shared on a Twitter post on Wednesday night that he is not joining United City. He, however, did not state the reason why.

He did thank the Filipino football fans and Ceres for the “beautiful memories.”

While with the Busmen, he steered the team to the PFL title in the league’s first three seasons and made Ceres one of the top and respected clubs in the Southeast Asian region.

OJ Porteria, Bievenido Maranon and Carli De Murga were some of the players who paid tribute to Mr. Vidakovic. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Masters to be held without patrons in 2020 due to COVID-19

THE MASTERS, which brings together the world’s best golfers in one of the sport’s four majors, will be held without patrons in November because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, Augusta National Golf Club said on Wednesday.

Organizers had been examining how best to host the global sporting event ever since the pandemic forced the postponement of the tournament, traditionally held during the first full week of April at Augusta National.

“Throughout this process, we have consulted with health officials and a variety of subject matter experts,” Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement.

“Ultimately, we determined that the potential risks of welcoming patrons and guests to our grounds in November are simply too significant to overcome.”

Ridley said Augusta National, which will host the Masters from Nov. 12-15, will “hopefully” be able to welcome patrons back in April 2021. — Reuters

Globe, Mineski shore up strategic alliance

DETERMINED to see their common vision of advancing interest and appreciation for esports in the country, Globe and Mineski Philippines recently renewed their partnership.

The shored-up linkup will be centered around two aspects, namely, Liyab Esports and the Philippine Pro Gaming League (PPGL), the organizations said.

Liyab Esports is a professional esports team co-owned by Globe and Mineski which has steadily built its legs in the sport since being established last year.

The team is composed of the most promising local esports athletes who compete in various regional tournaments, including at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games where it won a gold medal for Starcraft II.

Under the renewed partnership, Team Liyab will further be expanded with a team for League of Legends Wild Rift now part of its roster.

League of Legends Wild Rift is Riot Games’ upcoming Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game based on the popular League of Legends franchise.

The team for League of Legends Wild Rift joins those for Starcraft II, League of Legends and Arena of Valor in Liyab Esports.

PPGL, meanwhile, is considered to be the biggest multi-platform esports league in the country. Through it, Globe and Mineski hope to further promote esports by fostering community leagues and building on relevant esports titles and emerging games.

The league recently held its grand finals for Rules of Survival Mobile (ROS Mobile), Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) and MARVEL Super War (MSW), gathering some of the top teams in e-games in the country and crowning deserving winners.

“Our partnership has been very fruitful for both Mineski and Globe,” said Jil Bausa-Go, VP for Get Entertained Tribe at Globe, in a statement. “It is a journey marked with milestones which helped make Liyab, PPGL and our continuing vision for Philippine esports to grow stronger and more resilient.”

Ronald Robins, founder and CEO of Mineski Global, meanwhile, shared the same enthusiasm for the partnership.

“This is definitely an exciting new chapter for us, and we are happy to have our partners at Globe remain steadfast and committed in accelerating our efforts to grow the esports industry. Unfazed by the current situation, our collaboration pledges to further promote the importance of esports, and the communities that support it in both the local and global stages,” he said.

Valorant Pacific Open

Meanwhile, the group stage of the Valorant Pacific Open happens next week with teams from across Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore battling it out for the remaining prize pool of $20,000.

Mineski Global organized the qualifying legs for the Open in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

The official live streams of Valorant Pacific Open will be available to viewers around the world via Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Last-gasp PSG beats Atalanta to reach Champions League semis

LISBON — Paris St Germain scored two late goals, including a stoppage-time winner from substitute Eric Choupo-Moting, to beat outsiders Atalanta 2-1 and end the Serie A side’s Champions League dream in their quarter-final on Wednesday.

Atalanta, in their first Champions League campaign, went ahead with a curling effort from Mario Pasalic in the 27th minute and held out until the 90th when Brazilian defender Marquinhos equalized for the French champions.

With Atalanta wilting, Choupo-Moting turned the ball home in the third minute of added time to end Qatari-backed PSG’s embarrassing run of recent quarter-final and round of 16 exits and send them into the last four for the first time since 1995.

The Ligue 1 side will face either Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig, who meet on Thursday, in their semi-final.

“When I came on, I thought to myself, ‘We can’t lose, we can’t go home like that.’ I was confident in myself, confident in the team and then the rest is the history of Paris,” said Cameroon international Choupo-Moting.

“It was a crazy game, a tough game and opponents.”

The first half was all about Neymar who had four good chances but squandered them all.

The Brazilian burst clear of the Atalanta defence in the third minute but sidefooted wide with only goalkeeper Marco Sportiello to beat.

He also got caught in two minds between shooting and passing to Mauro Icardi, shot wide after another mazy run which included a nutmeg and made a complete hash of another chance gifted to him by Hans Hateboer’s wayward back-pass.

Despite boasting only a fraction of PSG’s spending power, Atalanta were more than equal on the pitch and went ahead when an exchange of passes ended with the ball falling to Pasalic who met it first time to curl his shot past Keylor Navas.

Berat Djimsiti should have increased Atalanta’s lead after the break but sliced the ball wide and the game turned when PSG introduced their France striker Kylian Mbappe, who had not started because of an ankle injury.

Mbappe and Neymar were both denied by Sportiello but, as PSG ramped up the pressure, Atalanta finally cracked.

Cameroon forward Choupo-Moting’s cross found Neymar and he touched the ball to Marquinhos for his fellow Brazilian to fire home from close range. Minutes later, Neymar sent Mbappe down the left and his low cross was turned in by Choupo-Moting.

Atalanta had a chance to equalise but Luis Muriel, after breaking clear, ran the ball out of play and his team mates slumped to the ground in despair as the final whistle went.

Atalanta, a rare case of a team from outside the elite group of European clubs making the last eight of the competition, are based in Bergamo which was at the epicentre of the new coronavirus pandemic in Italy earlier this year. (Reporting by Simon Evans, additional reporting by Philip O’Connor and Brian Homewood; — Reuters

Five ‘bubbles,’ 400,000 fans and full prize money at 2021 Australian Open

MUMBAI — The 2021 Australian Open could be moved to later in the year due to COVID-19 but tournament director Craig Tiley told Reuters that organizers are confident of hosting the Grand Slam in its usual January slot with full prize money and fans in the stands.

Melbourne is in the midst of a full lockdown after a second spike in COVID-19 cases but Tiley and his team have been working since shortly after the 2020 edition finished to draw up strategies to ensure next year’s tournament goes ahead.

Ticket sales will start in October and five “bio-secure bubbles” will be opened across the country six weeks before the tournament begins to allow players arriving in Australia to avoid the most restrictive quarantine measures, Tiley said.

“We’re going to open our bio bubble from the first of December and players can come at any time,” Tennis Australia’s (TA) chief executive added in a video call.

“When the players arrive, our expectation is they’re not going to be in a hotel for 14 days like the current requirements are. We’ll have an exemption within this bio-secure bubble.

“We’ve said every year that we’re the ‘happy slam’. But now we’re saying we’re the ‘very safe and happy slam.’”

TA’s crisis management team, set up because of the bushfire smoke that threatened this year’s tournament, has put a business and operational plan in place for each of the scenarios they came up with.

The first scenario was the event being held in much the same way as 2020, while the second was a tournament with limited crowds, said Tiley.

“Scenario three was behind closed doors, a broadcast-only event. Scenario four was moving to another time of the year,” he added.

“And scenario five is no event at all.”

‘THE WAY WE WERE’
Tiley was confident of being able to welcome some 400,000 fans to Melbourne Park in 2021, about half the number that attended this year’s tournament.

The vast site, which covers an area of about 2.5 kilometers, allows organizers to enforce physical distancing effectively, while the wearing of masks will be mandatory.

“We’ve established a strategy and an operational plan for all our fans and how they will be positioned around the site,” he said.

Tiley said they would consult with the main tours if they were forced to reschedule, not act unilaterally as the organizers of the French Open did when they moved their event from May to the end of September.

The Australian winter would rule out the months of May to July as prospective windows but March-April or September-October could be looked at, he added.

Tiley said organizers had employed a “global expert” to help set up the bio-security bubbles and testing facilities in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, which will allow players to acclimatize and train for the Grand Slam.

The Australian Open, which has been held in Melbourne since 1972, is the primary source of revenue for TA and the last edition had a direct economic impact of A$387 million ($277 million) on Melbourne, Tiley said.

TA expects turnover and revenue from the next edition to decrease by a double-digit percentage but they would not be reducing the A$71 million prize purse.

“I’m optimistic and positive that we’ll have an event and it’ll be in Melbourne,” said Tiley, adding that TA had cash reserves of A$80 million to lean on in the event the tournament had to be cancelled.

“It will have some crowds and it’ll be the beginning of kind of getting back to the way we were.” — Reuters

Hardware up for grabs

The National Basketball Association cannot but be happy with how its bubble experiment has progressed so far. For the fourth consecutive week, its mass testing of players has resulted in zero positive results — proof, if nothing else, of the effectiveness of the stringent health and safety protocols it has put in place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. And while broadcast ratings haven’t exactly been the bonanza conventional wisdom envisioned in light of the seeming absence of entertainment options under the new normal, they nonetheless underscore the continued appeal of the league’s principal product.

Indeed, matches over the last month have been significantly compelling. Even as the initial schedule was designed to enhance the fitness of players after having been subjected to a lengthy break, competition has been fierce. The battle for the last playoff spot in the West has, in particular, come down to the last day of the seeding games. The Grizzlies, Blazers, Spurs, and Suns all have at least partial control of their fates, underscoring the importance of every contest in today’s slate.

Parenthetically, the developments have both been a result of and led to outstanding showings from supposed fodder. The Suns, for instance, have exceeded themselves, racking up seven straight victories; one more win, and they cement their singular unbeaten status. The Spurs have likewise surprised longtime hoops habitues with consistently gritty efforts despite the absence of seven-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. And the Blazers, starring prospective bubble Most Valuable Player Damian Lillard, have overcome intrinsic frailties with a heady mixture of purpose, perseverance, and pride.

All of the above translate to a turn of events the NBA will be presenting with pleasure this weekend. When the runup to the playoffs was being drawn up, the play-in series looked more like a possibility at best. Now that it has become a certainty, it figures to be a can’t-miss proposition regardless of the protagonists involved. The unique mechanics will require the ninth seed to prevail against the eighth seed twice, and the latter just once over the former, in order to claim the last postseason spot in the West.  And, make no mistake, it’s not simply a right to face the Lakers in the first round. Because there is effectively no such thing as homecourt advantage on campus, registering an “upset” against the conference top seed isn’t as Sisyphean an endeavor as it looks on paper.

In other words, motivations run high because the Grizzlies, Blazers, Spurs, and Suns know winning today won’t just mean staying alive. As far as they’re concerned, the hardware is up for grabs — and darned if they won’t make the most of the opportunity.

 

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.

Science and art merge in educational TV program

By Patricia B. Mirasol

Mind S-Cool TV is an alternative learning experience that complements basic education by merging art and science through “adventure quests” featuring show-and-tell activities, exhibitions, home experiments, and illustrations, among others. 

Mind S-Cool TV is a project of the Bonifacio Arts Foundation Inc. (BAFI), the nonprofit behind the Mind Museum and BGC Art Center. “Education should continue in the crisis. We’d like to think we’re learning for a better normal,” said BAFI managing director and curator Maria Isabel Garcia, who added that the show was planned soon after the lockdown, when she and her colleagues realized that the crisis was likely to linger.

A media preview of the TV show revolved around the question: “What is a pandemic?” In a combination of English and Filipino, co-hosts Mikee Estorga and Pecier Desierdo took the audience on a student-friendly journey on the causes, management, and prevention of a pandemic. 

Questions from children were answered by virologist Marilen Balolong. There were also insights from Ron Capinding, a writer, and Chris Carandang, a clinical psychologist. Interwoven in between was a conversation with an animated bat, informative videos, and a song number, reminiscent of educational shows like Sesame Street.

Teachers who previewed the quest found it an informative supplement to their lessons. “It’s well-intentioned and a very good concept,” said one.

Succeeding quests include “How Do You Make a Planet?” and “What Is Everything Made Of?” Topics are tied to the K-12 curriculum. The approach aims to make connections to the real world and teach children how to ask questions. 

Mind S-Cool TV will be aired weekly on free TV on CNN Philippines and live-streamed on its Facebook page beginning Aug. 22, at 8:30 a.m. with a replay at 4:30 p.m. (replay schedules may change). As a nod to the pandemic, the pilot episode is titled “What in the World Is Going On?” 

There’s also a subscription-based platform called Mind S-Cool Online which is a deep dive on topics with worksheets. It will be available at the same time as Mind S-Cool TV.

“Science will solve this crisis. The arts will make the way inspiring and transformative,” said Ms. Garcia.