Philippine Sports News for Filipino fans around the world

Telecoms tycoon and sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan gave Philippine basketball a big boost Wednesday when he finally accepted the offer to head as Chairman and President the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

In a three-paragraph statement released to sports media late Wednesday afternoon, the top honcho of PLDT and Smart Communications said his decision to assume the concurrent position as SBP President and Chair was anchored on the hopes of finally forging unity in Philippine basketball, on the condition that he gets full support from both the SBP and the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).

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Jose Rizal University (JRU), a late-bloomer in this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball competition, topped the ranking among non-seeded teams in the 4th Collegiate Champions League.

The Heavy Bombers of coach Ariel Vanguardia gathered 29 votes from the sports media who attended the lunch hosted by Solar Sports yesterday at the National Sports Grill.

They ended their campaign in the 82nd season of the oldest collegiate league in the land with victories over heavyweights Philippine Christian University (PCU) and Mapua.

Also getting wildcard tickets were defending Colleges and Universities Sports Association (CUSA) champion Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) and University Athletics Association of the Philippines’ (UAAP) National University (NU). The Admirals got 19 votes while the Bulldogs received 12.

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The members of the Philippine contingent to the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar will leave in seven batches, the smallest taking off Nov. 10 and the biggest flying out of the country on Nov. 29.

With only 64 days left before the quadrennial event, there are 269 qualified athletes and around 70 coaches and other officials making up the Doha-bound RP delegation.

Those leaving on Nov. 10 are deputy chef de mission Ritchie Garcia and a handful more officials. Then on Nov. 29 comes the biggest batch made up of 180 athletes and officials.

Annie Ruiz of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), who is the billeting chief of the RP delegation to Doha, graced Tuesday‘s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum in the absence of commissioner Ritchie Garcia who begged off at the last minute.

Ruiz said of the 269 athletes, 185 are male and 84 are female. They represent 33 national sports associations, including late entries in softball, baseball and water polo.

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La Salle and Ateneo’s fierce varsity rivalry spills over into the pitch when the First Terry Razon Copa Filipina football tournament kicks off on Sunday at the Philsport field in Pasig City.

Barred from vying against each other in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) football competitions, the two arch rivals are among the 12 top Metro Manila teams seeing action in the event organized by the National Capital Region Football Association (NCRFA) in honor of the late Terry Razon.

The mother of national player Freddie Gonzales, Razon was an avid football supporter who got involved in the world’s most popular sport in the 80′s through the encouragement of former Philippine Football Federation president Henri Kahn.

“The Terry Razon football is honor of one of local football’s great supporters. She was a soccer mom who helped inspire her son Freddie to take up football and become one of our best strikers,” NCRFA president Jose Vito Borromeo said in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) forum at the function room of the Pantalan Restaurant in Manila.

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The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) still needs P5 million to finance the participation of the 268-strong national delegation to the 15th Doha Asian Games in December.

If the PSC doesn’t find a sponsor to foot the shortfall, the government agency and the Philippine Olympic Committee (PSC) may trim the delegation, according to PSC commissioner Richie Garcia.

Garcia, also the deputy chief of mission of the national team, said they resort to this drastic move if no “godfather” steps up to add P5 million more to the P30 million kitty the PSC has prepared for the Asiad.

The P5 million, according to Garcia, will be used to pay for the participation of the baseball, water polo and softball squads, plus some other token entries in various sports disciplines.

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