Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts

Monday, October 8, 2012

Batista, victorious in MMA debut


By: Rijel R. Reyes

Former WWE champion and Fil-Am headliner Dave “The Animal” Batista won his MMA debut in the first round against the veteran fighter Vince Lucero in a sloppy fight at CES (Classic Entertainment and Sports) 12 last October 7 (Manila time) in Providence R.I.

The 43-year old former WWE star scored a TKO against the veteran Lucero (22-22-1) with 55 seconds remaining in the first round despite a rocky start.

"I think my nerves got the best of me a little bit. He hits like a (expletive) horse," said Batista in an interview after the fight. "He rocked me. I couldn't feel my legs under me for a while. I was just so nervous. It took me a little while to get my composure."

Lucero landed a couple of right hands after the opening bell, pushing back Batista to the fence. The veteran fighter controlled Batista in stand up that he even danced during a clinch.

With the whole round seemed to be a Lucero fight, Batista got a double-leg takedown halfway through the round and pinned his opponent in the canvass. Batista took advantage of the position and landed heavy shots when Lucero gave up his back.

Gaining side control, full mount and back control again, Batista continued to pour down flurries which forced the referee to stop the fight.

Lucero gave thwarted gestures after the fight has been stopped saying that he was hit behind the head several times. But after the official announcement, the two fighters showed respect by hugging it out. Batista showed willingness for his next appearance.

"It was a matter of getting this first one out of the way. I was just so nervous. I had so many butterflies coming out; I think it got the best of me a little bit. I'm better than I showed tonight," Batista said.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Career game for Salva gave Ateneo Game One


By: Anthony Don T. Marca

Nico Salva’s career-high 30 points lift the Ateneo de Manila University past against the University of Santo Tomas, 83-78, taking Game One of the UAAP Season 75 Finals last October 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

“I just want to win so I gave it my all. I told myself before the game that I’ll do everything I can for us to win,” said Salva.

The Growling Tigers showed more composure in the early part of the game, leading by 7 at the end of the first half, 38-31, until the Blue Eagles clawed its way up dropping a 17-0 run to start the second half. Ateneo turned things around by making baskets on one end and playing good defense on the other end as UST was held scoreless in the first six minutes of the third period.

Kevin Ferrer’s strong drive to the hole ended the offense drought of the Tigers, but Salva continued to heat up offensively by draining down basket after basket to put the Eagles still on top, 61-51, at the end of the third quarter.

In the final canto, the lead went back to UST at 64-63 after Aljon Mariano scored nine points to lead a 13-2 run capped by Jeric Fortuna’s outlet dish to Karim Abdul for a two-hand slam. But with three minutes left in the game, Ryan Buenafe drained six straight points off a four-point play following a goaltending violation from Abdul to increase their lead to 7, 77-70.

Everybody thought it was over as Ateneo was leading by nine, 81-72, with a minute remaining in the ball game, but Jeric Teng, who led his squad with 25 markers, drilled back-to-back trey, cutting the deficit to just 3.However, Kiefer Ravena sank a jumper to put up their lead to five with just eight seconds left on the clock, leading to a win for the Eagles.

Ravena, Juami Tiongson and Buenafe helped blaze their offense, scoring 13, 12 and 10 respectively, while Mariano backed up Teng with his double-double performance of 22 points and 11 boards.

Ateneo’s win on the best-of-three championship series makes the UST face a do-or-die situation come Game Two, which is scheduled to kick-off on October 11.

Tigers coach PidoJarencio expressed his dismay on the call of the refs, saying that the officials’ whistles were biased.

“Ang ninipis ng tawag, ang kakapal ng mukha. Sana marinig lang din nila ako. Eh kasi naaawa ako sa mga estudyante babayad 250, pipila medaling araw. Ala una ng medaling araw nandyan na para mapanood lang kami. Mapanood Ateneo-UST game tapos gaganunin lang. De-deprive kami ng fair officiating. Bahala na sila. Ma-ko-konsensya din yang lintik na yun.”

ADMU (83) – Salva 30, Ravena 13, Tiongson 12, Buenafe 10, Chua 9, Slaughter 5, Gonzaga 2,Elorde 2, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0

UST (78) – Teng 25, Mariano 22, Ferrer 13, Abdul 9, Fortuna 4, Lo 3, Pe 2, Bautista 0

Quarterscores: 18-24, 31-38, 61-51, 83-78

Friday, October 5, 2012

Pacquiao promises to knock Marquez out


By: Rijel R. Reyes

“The Filipino Pride” Manny Pacquiao vowed to end disputes and controversies bugging him and his fans against his archenemy, the Mexican superstar Juan Manuel Marquez in their upcoming fight this December at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

After two controversial wins against the Mexican fighter, Manny told People’s Journal that he “would like to win this time impressively,” and by impressively, he meant a “knockout.”

“I don’t really make predictions in my fights, but this time, I promise that I’ll knock him out,” Pacquiao told People’s Journal.

The eight-division world champion wanted to prove his critics and Marquez wrong who expressed doubts on the judges’ decisions in their last fights.

“I want to erase any doubts this time around. To do that, I will not underestimate him like I did in November. I will stay focused in my preparations, study and apply new techniques I did not use in our previous meetings,” Pacquiao said.

“I need to be aggressive. I want this fight to be different than the last ones. I want a win that is decisive,” he added.

Meanwhile, Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao’s longtime trainer and friend told People’s Journal on a separate article that his friend will be a little cautious this time around.

After the counterpunching and alleged foot stomping that Marquez displayed in their last fight, Fernandez told that his friend “will give more emphasis on defense, while not forgetting the all-important offense.

Pacquiao will face Marquez for the fourth time after their unimpressive third fight in November 12 last year.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Not a déja vu of 2006 Finals


By: Anthony Don T. Marca

History repeats itself as the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers will face the Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles in the 75th season of the UAAP Men’s Basketball Finals on October 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The last time these two teams met at the finals was way back in 2006, when Pido Jarencio’s squad, led by Jojo Duncil, Japs Cuan, Jervy Cruz and Dylan Ababou, completed a Cinderella run to take the title against Norman Black’s crew of J.C. Intal, Macky Escalona, Chris Tiu and Doug Kramer.

Ateneo finished in the top of the eliminations to face the 4th seed and rival school, De La Salle University. The Loyola-based cagers escaped with a 66-63 victory over the Green Archers behind sophomore guard Kiefer Ravena and MVP candidate forward Nico Salva.

On the other bracket, UST routed the National University via 63-57 win, with Kevin Ferrer aweing everyone by his 17-point performance and clumping down Bulldog star Bobby Ray Parks Jr. to just 12 markers despite suffering from illness.

The best-of-three series is very important for UST’s Jeric Fortuna and Carmelo Afuang because it is their final stint to capture a title in their UAAP career, while it is also the last for outgoing Ateneans Salva, Greg Slaughter, Justin Chua, Oping Sumalinog and Tonino Gonzaga, along with Black who will assume coaching position for Talk ‘n Text in the PBA right after the UAAP season.

It is, by far, one of the most thrilling championship series. Will the Eagles capture its 5th straight title or would the Tigers break the streak and repeat an upset? Let us all be witness to another history in college basketball.

Salud confident for a promising 38th PBA season

By: Anthony Don T. Marca

Stylish performances and graphical multimedia effects stun the audience as the 38th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) officially opened last Sept. 30 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

Right after the singing of the national anthem and the prayer, Commissioner Chito Salud gave the opening remarks saying what kind of PBA the people want.

“We want a PBA that will offer the best class of sports entertainment. We want a PBA that is competitive. We want a PBA that is successful in live attendance and game proceeds, together with commercial success. We want a PBA that is keenly up to it, to its responsibility to the society, specifically, to its responsibility as a role model for the youth,” Salud said.

He also said that the league aims to make the games tougher and harder, without eliciting unsportsmanlike behavior.

“The competitiveness of our league is very evident now. The core values must be embedded more in our games particularly in our rookies who will be carrying the torch of the PBA in the years to come.”

After Salud’s message, the governors of each team were introduced along with the parading of their respective muses who awed the sellout crowd of 18,901. Among these muses are actresses Anne Curtis for San Mig Coffee, Alice Dixson forTalk n’ Text, and model Georgina Wilson for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

Each team entered the hardwood from the lower box sections of the dome, as they were introduced by the rap group Salbakuta.

PBA’s new chairman and Ginebra governor Robert Non led the official opening of the season.
SMART-Gilas Pilipinas, which is mostly composed of players from different teams in the PBA and the country’s national team, was also acknowledged for its recent domination on the 34th William Jones Cup and 4th place finish in the FIBA Asia Cup.

Unpleasant debut for Batang Pier

The opening ceremonies were followed by a game, in which crowd-favoriteGinebra defeated rookie team Global Port Batang Pier, 110-90.

Ginebra showed dominance all throughout the game by leading as high as 24 points, spearheaded by last season’s MVP, Mark Caguioa, with 18 points. Their offense was orchestrated by the newly-acquired playmaker L.A. Tenorio, who only made a single field goal but dished out 10 assists along with an impressive nine rebounds.

The two guards were reinforced by their rookies Chris Ellis and Keith Jensen, who both wowed the pro-Ginebra crowd by their stunning debut performances, scoring 12 and 13 points respectively.

After spending more time on the bench than on the hardwood last season due to injury, Rico Maierhofer wisely spent the minutes given to him by listing a double-double performance of 14 points and 11 rebounds, also giving Ginebra a lift.

Willie Miller led all players with his 26 points, carrying his new team on his shoulders after their main man, Gary David, was limited to scoring only nine points with 1-of-10 field goal shooting. 

David’s sole field goal was the three-pointer he sunk in during their run in the 4th quarter cutting their deficit to just eight, 94-86, giving their opponent a scare.

But Maierhofer scored back-to-back baskets to lead a counter blitz by Ginebra.

Two other Global Port guards Rudy Lingganay and rookie AJ Mandani, helped Miller carry the team with their 14 and 13 markers, respectively, while former D-League MVP Vic Manuel failed to bring his A-game.

Ginebra’s win is a good sign of a promising title run by the team after a consistent runner-up finish in the last season, while on Global Port’s side, the loss serves as an eye-opener for the rookie team and its rookie coach, Glenn Capacio.

GINEBRA (110) – Caguioa 18, Maierhofer 14, Mamaril 14, Jensen 13, Ellis 12, Hatfield 11, Raymundo 8, Maliksi 7, Helterbrand 5, Cortez 4, Tenorio 2, Wilson 2

GLOBAL PORT (90) – Miller 26, Lingganay 14, Mandani 13, David 9, Vanlandingham 7, Salvador 7, Al-Hussaini 4, Raymundo 2, Manuel 2, Deutchman 2, Guevarra 2, Yee 2, Adducul 0, Cruz 0

Quarterscores: 26-20, 55-39, 86-64, 110-90