ST. ANDREWS -- Defending champion Atthaya Thithikul will lead a host of emerging stars from the region when the second edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) is played at The Royal Golf Club in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, from April 25-28.

Last Tuesday I told you the story of GM Andrei Sokolov and how the Queen’s Gambit Declined Blackburne Variation did him in. He wasn’t the only one whose ship was sunk by that line. There is also Nigel Short.

The Lakers will begin the second half of their 2018-19 campaign outside the playoff bubble, not quite a departure from preseason projections. Yet, not a few quarters have seen fit to view them as a disappointment, and not simply because they have LeBron James -- he with the personal streak of eight straight Finals appearances -- on their side. Even as taking an early vacation has been the norm for them since 2013, not a few quarters still believe they should be better (okay, much better) than their sub-.500 record suggests.

COMING off a gutsy victory in five sets on opening day of Season 81 volleyball of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, the UP Lady Fighting Maroons go for their second win in as many games when they face off with the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws today at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

FACING what could be the biggest games in its current iteration, Gilas Pilipinas is heading into the sixth and final window of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup (WC) Asian Qualifiers with excitement and determination.

MONACO -- World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic crowned a winning return to the courts after surgery with the Laureus sportsman of the year award on Monday, while American gymnast Simone Biles won the sportswoman of the year prize.

THE New York Knicks’ parent company said Monday that a report of chairman James Dolan taking offers to sell the team is “100% false.”

AFTER an encouraging campaign in the Ronda Pilipinas, the Go For Gold Philippines Continental Team will encounter more punishing roads ahead this year in its bid to send a Filipino rider to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

TAGUIG CITY -- Exciting action in the Season 3 Philam Life 7s Football League and inaugural Megaworld 7s Youth League continued on Sunday as teams hit the field for Match Day 3 at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

For someone who took to liking playing defense during his younger basketball days, I certainly dig the list of finalists for possible enshrinement this year in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Naomi Osaka was at a crossroads by the end of 2017. In the year that passed since being named the Women’s Tennis Association Newcomer of the Year, she had seen her world ranking drop 20 spots to 68^th, as clear a reflection as any of her up-and-down play. Needless to say, her partnership with Japan Tennis Association-endorsed David Taylor did not bring about the progress she envisioned, and she figured another mentoring change was in order. And, in keeping with the out-of-the-box thinking of an out-of-the-box character in an out-of-the-box situation, she chose one with absolutely no experience in the sidelines.

THE University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses won their opening game in Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, and while it did not come easy, forced by the Adamson Lady Falcons to a five-setter, the team took a lot from it to build on.