COLLEGIATE sporting season commences later this week with the opening of Season 95 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association which aims to celebrate unity amid the competition.

ONE OF THE top rivalries at ONE Championship gets another serving as bantamweights Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes of Brazil and Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon of the Philippine go at it once again in a title fight later this year.

Jeth Romy Morado and Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano, both Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, tied for first in the 2019 Philippine Junior Championship. Morado was declared the winner on tie-breaks but both players were awarded the National Master title.

In retrospect, the writing was on the wall long before the doors of free agency opened yesterday. Kevin Durant wasn’t going to return to the Warriors, not after his much-publicized flare-up with teammate Draymond Green early in the 2018-19 season fed into the narrative that his joining them in 2016 was for his benefit and not theirs. For all his talents and evident status as their best player over the last three years, he could not quite shake off the reasonable contention that they were already formed and formidable to begin with. So in line with his objective to cement his legacy as an all-time great, he simply had to start anew elsewhere.

THE COLUMBIAN DYIP handed the San Miguel Beermen a huge loss in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup, fashioning out a 134-132 victory in overtime on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

THE BROOKLYN Nets and former Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving are “motivated to move quickly toward” a four-year, $141-million deal when they meet in New York on Sunday shortly after the beginning of free agency, ESPN reported Saturday.

KAYA FC-ILOILO made it five wins in a row in the ongoing Philippines Football League (PFL) tournament after defeating Philippine Air Force FC, 5-0, in league action on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

GILAS PILIPINAS Youth fought hard in its first game at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup but came up short in the end against host Greece, losing, 85-69, early Sunday morning (Manila time).

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL staging of Red Bull Reign Philippines was staged at the weekend with Team Phenom and Team Gilas ruling the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.

THE ANNUAL National Milo Marathon kicks off its 2019 edition later this month with the theme “One Team. One Nation. Go Philippines!” in support of the country’s athletes seeing action at the 30^th Southeast Asian Games this year, which the Philippines is hosting.

LONDON -- Preparing to try and retain a Wimbledon title is arduous enough but men’s top seed Novak Djokovic says he has spent as much time in the past few days playing politics as hitting tennis balls.

MERWIN TAN bagged the boys’ Masters youth championships in the 51^st Singapore International Open 2019 over the weekend, proving his early success in the 20^th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships in Malaysia was no fluke.