RENNES, FRANCE -- The Netherlands reached the women’s World Cup quarterfinals for the first time when Lieke Martens’ last-gasp penalty earned them a 2-1 victory against Japan on Tuesday.

CERES-NEGROS FC’s bid to make it to a third straight AFC Cup ASEAN Zone finals fell short on Tuesday night after losing, 2-1, to Hanoi FC in the second leg of their zonal semifinals at the Hang Day Stadium in Vietnam.

LONDON -- Spaniard Rafael Nadal has criticized Wimbledon’s unique seedings formula, which could hinder his chances of a third title when the tournament starts on Monday.

THE Philippines is set to compete in the First Thailand Chess Festival at the Le Bali Resort and Spa, Pattaya, Thailand from July 7 to 18.

The Championship started in 1998 and became an annual event. From then up to now there have been eight champions from China (Xu Jun, Zhang Zhong, Zhang Pengxiang, Ni Hua, Li Chao, Yu Yangyi, Wang Hao and Wei Yi), five Indians (Krishnan Sasikiran, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Penteala Harikirshna, Parimarjan Negi and SP Sethuraman), one Uzbek (Rustam Kasimdzhanov), one Vietnamese (Le Quang Liem) and even one from the United Arab Emirates (Salem AR Saleh), but never a Filipino.

When the Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers held a news conference the other day, it was for the purpose of introducing draft choices Jordan Poole, Alen Smailagic, and Eric Paschall. Nonetheless, discussions in the presser invariably veered toward the impending free agency of All-Stars Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. It wasn’t simply that the prospect of offering them max contracts, long seen as academic even in the face of luxury tax concerns, became muddled after their injuries in the immediate past NBA Finals will effectively red-shirt them throughout the 2019-20 season. More importantly, it was due to seeming changes in their own mindsets given the manner in which they suffered from unfortunate twists that required surgery and prolonged convalescence.

LEAGUE-LEADING Northport Batang Pier go for their fifth win in a row in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup, and solo leadership in the standings, when they return to action today against the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

LOS ANGELES -- Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo became the second European player to be selected the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, winning the honor on Monday night at the league’s awards show in Santa Monica, Calif.

AFTER more than a year on the sidelines following his suspension of FIBA over his failure to pass a random drug test, Kiefer Ravena was back practicing with Gilas Pilipinas on Monday night. It was something he said he was very thankful for and looks to build on as he restarts his basketball journey.

AS PART of its parent Alibaba Group’s long-term partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Southeast Asian e-commerce firm Lazada Group has recently activated its Olympic Games push in the region.

TO RID the organization of any question in leadership as well as settle conflicts within the group, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has decided to set the holding of a special election.

LONDON -- Historically, emotionally and statistically, Roger Federer remains the man to beat at Wimbledon even at the 21^st time of asking.