Sports

PVL sets guidelines for first rookie draft

After a lot of planning and negotiations in a bid to make the field more competitive, the PVL has finalized the first-ever Rookie Draft. “Drafts are the great equalizer in pro leagues. This season, we will hold our first-ever Draft with guidelines influenced by some of the top leagues in the world,” said PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo in a statement released to the media. Fresh talents dreaming to turn pro will have to go through the Draft...

Usyk in tears for late father after historic heavyweight win

An emotional Oleksandr Usyk shed tears for his late father after crowning a brilliant career by becoming boxing’s first four-belt undisputed heavyweight world champion on Sunday. The 37-year-old Ukrainian won a split decision against Britain’s Tyson Fury in Riyadh in the first heavyweight unification fight since 1999. The former European and world amateur champion, Olympic gold medalist and undisputed cruiserweight champ — still undefeated as a...

NBA: Mavericks beat Thunder in wild finish to reach West finals

DALLAS — Kyrie Irving probably wondered if his uncanny run of closeout victories without a loss in his career was finally near an end. The streak lives, and the Dallas Mavericks are through to the NBA Western Conference semifinals for the second time in three seasons. P.J. Washington Jr. made two free throws before an intentional miss with 2.5 seconds left as the Mavs rallied from 17 points down in the second half for a 117-116 victory over the...

Marcio Lassiter has dream scenario on breaking PBA 3-point record

MANILA, Philippines—It might take a few more games but Marcio Lassiter can leapfrog to the top of the list of the PBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made. And the San Miguel shooter has an ideal scenario on when he wants that to happen. “I’m not a good mathematician with numbers like that but it would be great to do it if it’s given to me in the Finals,” said Lassiter after their 101-98 win over Rain or Shine on Friday at Mall of Asia...

Atayde vows to help QC fencing program

QUEZON City 1st District Rep. Juan Carlos "Arjo" Atayde has vowed to support the city's fencing program that produced Samantha Kyle Catantan, who qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The lawmaker made the pledge last week, emphasizing that support for the program is needed "if we want to help Filipino athletes achieve their dreams of competing." Atayde, a member of the House Committee on Youth and Sports Development, said that "fencing is one...

British boxer Sherif Lawal dies after being knocked down in pro debut

LONDON — A British boxer has died after he lost on his professional debut in London. Sherif Lawal was knocked down by a blow to the head from Malam Varela in the fourth round of a scheduled six-round middleweight fight on Sunday at Harrow Leisure Centre. READ: Mexican teen boxer dies of injuries suffered in ring The referee waved it off to allow paramedics to attend to Lawal. He was taken to hospital but died. He was 29. “The British Boxing...

Meralco a much different team under coach Nenad, says Cone

'This is a familiar team with a different system. And we struggled with it at times'

Stenhouse punches Busch in post-race fight at NASCAR All-Star Race

An early race battle on the track turned into a brawl in the garage following Sunday night’s NASCAR All Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

Pacers set NBA playoff shooting mark, torch Knicks in Game 7

NEW YORK — When the Indiana Pacers compiled one of the best offensive seasons in NBA history, they were just getting warmed up. For Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, they delivered something really spectacular. Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points and the Pacers set an NBA playoff record by shooting 67.1% from the field, beating the New York Knicks 130-109 on Sunday to advance to the NBA Eastern Conference finals for the first time in...

Down go the champs

DENVER, Colorado — The Minnesota Timberwolves erased a 20-point deficit to stun Denver 98-90, knocking the defending NBA champions out of the playoffs on Sunday as Indiana ousted the New York Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Jaden McDaniels added 23 points and Anthony Edwards hit his stride late as the Timberwolves became the first team to come back from a halftime deficit of more than 11 points to win a Game...

Women’s squad making most out of short training period, says ace setter

The women’s Alas Pilipinas is composed of various professional and young stars of volleyball, but most of them have pointed out one person they are most excited to play alongside with.I t’s Jia de Guzman, the former Creamline playmaker who just came back from her stint with Denso Airybees in the Japan V.League. “It’s very flattering, it’s an honor while at the same time I am very excited to play with them as well,” De Guzman told reporters after...

Faith Nisperos upbeat ahead of PH team return with different crew

MANILA, Philippines — Faith Nisperos, the lone holdover from last year’s Philippine women’s volleyball team that competed in the AVC Challenge Cup, is thrilled to share the same passion and goal in ushering the Alas Pilipina era in this year’s competition at Rizal Memorial Coliseum. From representing the Nationals with the core of Akari Chargers in their seventh-place finish last year, Nisperos will be coming back with an entirely new line-up in...

Verstappen "almost ended in the grandstands" amid Imola F1 hard tyre struggles

Max Verstappen felt like he was "driving on ice" on the hard tyres in Formula 1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, saying he "almost ended up in the grandstands".

PBA: Standhardinger’s career game not enough for Ginebra in Game 2

MANILA, Philippines—Christian Standhardinger was in no mood to celebrate his latest career feat on Sunday. After all, his herculean effort went down the drain after Barangay Ginebra lost to Meralco in Game 2 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series. Standhardinger set a career-high 41 points that went with 11 rebounds and four assists but still not enough as the Bolts leveled the series at 1-1. “I didn’t even think about that,” said...

Carlos Yulo hauls four golds at Asian Championships

Carlos Yulo was a cut above the rest after cornering the vault and parallel bars titles for a mighty four-gold collection at the conclusion of the 2024 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Filipino fireball revalidated his billing anew as the continent’s finest, counting those earlier victories in the individual all-around and floor exercise. Yulo was on track to reign in the vault after a twin effort of 15.233...

Klitschko and Shevchenko laud 'historical' win for Ukrainian Usyk

Usyk, who hails from Ukraine, was crowned the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after a gruelling battle in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. Two judges scored the bout 115-113 and 114-113 in Usyk's favour.

Aston Martin F1 upgrades may have made car "difficult to drive"

A messy weekend at Imola left Aston Martin with just two points, with team boss Mike Krack explaining its upgrades may have made its Formula 1 car "difficult to drive".

B.League: Kiefer Ravena, Shiga Lakes claim B2 crown

MANILA, Philippines—A week after Kiefer Ravena and Shiga earned their promotion back to the B1 division of the B.League, the Lakes gave themselves a fitting sendoff by claiming the B2 championship. Shiga completed a sweep of the Koshigaya Alphas following an 89-87 win at Shiga Daihatsu Arena on Sunday. Ravena proved to be one of Shiga’s most crucial pieces in the finale with 10 points, three rebounds and eight assists. READ: Ray Parks, Nagoya...

Macandili-Catindig praises Nierva's fighting spirit

MANILA, Philippines — The unsung heroes got each other's back. Philippine volleyball team Alas Pilipinas has two formidable libero in its rotation with Dawn Macandili-Catindig and Jen Nierva taking care of the floor defense for the upcoming AVC Challenge Cup 2024. Being a veteran sweeper, Macandili-Catindig praises and sees similarities in terms of playing style with co-libero Nierva. "Well Jen, ever since in college, she is very stable as a...

Anthony Edwards had great message for Charles Barkley after Game 7 win

Anthony Edwards did not want to hear any excuses from Charles Barkley on Sunday after the Timberwolves punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.

Cone sees a lot of upside on future Gilas stars Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quimabao

MANILA, Philippines — Tim Cone has high expectations on Gilas Pilipinas' two young players in Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao, whom the national coach sees as the future stars of Philippine basketball. The 6-foot-7 Tamayo is coming off a stint with Japan B.League's Ryukyu Golden Kings, and in 23 games played, he averaged 3.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13 minutes of action. Though his playing time has been limited with the Golden Kings, where he...

An Astros-Cardinals trade to move past Jose Abreu and back into contention

A relocation could be exactly what Paul Goldschmidt needs to turn his horrible 2024 season around.

Stephen A. Smith Rips NBA Coach's 'Disrespectful' Press Conference

Stephen A. Smith called out Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone on First Take Monday morning. Following Denver's Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night, Malone became annoyed with a reporter who asked "how hard" it was to absorb an elimination loss in which the Nuggets blew a ...

NBA: Timberwolves rally from 20 down to stun Nuggets in Game 7

DENVER — Anthony Edwards overcame a slow start and the Timberwolves roared back from a 20-point second-half deficit to eliminate the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets 98-90 in a Game 7 Minnesota masterpiece on Sunday night. The Timberwolves erased a 15-point halftime deficit — the largest comeback in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history — behind Edwards, who had just four points, no rebounds and three assists at halftime but finished with 16...

NBA: Budenholzer reminisces, but quickly turns to future leading Suns

PHOENIX — Mike Budenholzer got a little teary-eyed talking about his past in Arizona, describing an idyllic childhood in the small town of Holbrook, about three hours northeast of Phoenix. Those tears dried up in a hurry when talking about his future. “It’s mind-boggling to me, like mind-blowing, to think that I’m going to be the head coach of the Phoenix Suns,” Budenholzer said on Friday during an introductory press conference in downtown...

Fajardo still a dominant force, but deflects credit to SMB teammates

MANILA, Philippines — June Mar Fajardo remains a reliable force for San Miguel Beer. And he demonstrated that again last Sunday after leading the Beermen to a 106-89 demolition of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters en route to a 2-0 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series. The 6-foot-10 Fajardo showed his dominance especially in the third period after racking up 18 of his game-high 22 points that enabled SMB to pull away after a tight...

Notable People who died in 2024

Why forcing Red Bull to make a “bad choice” is Vasseur’s main F1 target

As someone who understands well the challenges of Formula 1, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur knows there is no magic bullet that guarantees success.

NBA: Young Thunder brimming with optimism after playoff exit

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder might just be scratching the surface of their potential. Oklahoma City’s season ended Saturday night with a loss to Dallas in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. But the fact that the Thunder even got that far should concern the rest of the league. After missing the playoffs last year, they became the youngest team in NBA history to clinch a No. 1 seed and the youngest to win a playoff...

NBA Playoffs: Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics series preview and prediction

Jaja Santiago felt sense of fulfillment seeing NU win UAAP title

MANILA, Philippines — Despite not winning a UAAP title in her playing years for National University, Jaja Santiago felt as if she had finally won one after witnessing the Lady Bulldogs reclaim the glory in the Season 86 women’s volleyball Finals. Santiago was part of the proud NU faithful among the ecstatic 22,515 crowd at Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday when the Lady Bulldogs completed a series sweep of the UST Tigresses in Game 2, 25-23,...

Nisperos glad to reunite with Gandler at Alas Pilipinas

MANILA, Philippines — Faith Nisperos is glad to reunite with former Ateneo teammate and fellow wing spiker Vanie Gandler at Alas Pilipinas. Fighting for the Blue Eagles pride in the UAAP, Nisperos and Gandler took separate ways as they play for Akari and Cignal, respectively, in the PVL following their graduation last year. Now, they will team up to represent the Philippines in the AVC Challenge Cup slated from May 22 to 29 at the Rizal Memorial...

ESPN analyst slams Hall of Famer

When it came to Reggie Miller’s call of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Game 7 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, Kendrick Perkins had heard enough. So much so that the ESPN analyst even went as far as to openly pine for Miller to be replaced by another Hall of Famer on the TNT broadcast. “Reggie just talking,” Perkins posted to X. “Where’s Bill Walton when you need him[?]” Sheesh. It’s unclear what Miller said to warrant Perkins...

Jurgen Klopp to stick by promises to Liverpool and wife Ulla after Anfield exit

Jurgen Klopp has maintained he won't take another job anytime soon after leaving Liverpool with the German focussed on his wife, their grandchild and his Mallorca pad

EJ Obiena captures gold in LA Grand Prix

POLE vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena resumed his Paris Olympics build-up by capturing the gold medal in the Los Angeles Grand Prix at the Drake Stadium on May 19. The first Filipino Paris Games qualifier cleared 5.80 meters to rule the competition and claim his third championship out of four tournaments he joined this year. Obiena bested Norway's Simen Guttormsen and home bet KC Lightfoot, who both cleared 5.70 m. Guttormsen defeated Lightfoot...

Scottie Scheffler PGA Championship arrest saga continues; arraignment rescheduled

Scottie Scheffler will have to appear in court at a later date following his arrest at the PGA Championship.

Guardiola says ‘goodbye to Man City’ as Barcelona ‘do everything possible’ to hire him

Pep Guardiola is reportedly set to leave Man City at the end of next season with Barcelona willing to 'do everything possible' to make him their manager.

FACES OF CEBU: Khylem Progella, 18, champion beach volleyball player

CEBU CITY, Philippines–Cebu has produced numerous talented volleyball players. Among them are Sisi Rondina from Compostela, Cebu, Deanna Wong from Cebu City, and Isa Molde and Gretchen Soltones from Catmon, Cebu. At present, another Cebuana is making waves in the national scene in Khylem Progella. Progella, 18, is from Labangon in Cebu City. She made a name for herself in the beach volleyball scene after helping the University of Santo Tomas...

ESPN legend rips network for coverage of Knicks-Pacers series

One of ESPN’s legendary figures ripped the network for how it covered Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.

Nuggets head coach called 'classless' for season-ending comments

The defending champion Nuggets were ousted in the second round by the Timberwolves on Sunday.

Eala off to hot start at French Open qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines - Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala wasted no time in clinching her first win of the 2024 French Open qualifiers, by dominating over China's Ma Yexin in the first round. On Monday, Eala defeated Ma in two sets, 6-1, 6-1, to secure her first victory in the tournament. "First Grand Slam win!!! Q2 coming up," wrote Eala on Instagram. Her win came after she once again rose to a career best in the standings at the Women's Tennis...

The F1 driver market dominoes about to fall

Formula 1’s driver market dominoes are on the verge of falling down, with decisions set to be taken imminently that could finalise some key seats.

Noynay takes on Japanese knockout artist in Tokyo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Joe “Jaw Breaker” Noynay and Japanese Jin Sasaki passed the official weigh-in for their double regional title showdown at the Korakuen Hall scheduled in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday, May 16. Noynay, a native of Bogo City in northern Cebu, will battle Sasaki for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific welterweight title. Also up for grabs in this 12-rounder bout is the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF)...

Usyk edges Tyson Fury to become undisputed heavyweight champion

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Oleksandr Usyk has been shorter, lighter and older than all of his opponents since he moved up to the heavyweight division. Usyk’s heart and skill are enormous, and he overcame a major size disadvantage against Tyson Fury to become the world’s first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years. Usyk defeated Fury by split decision on Sunday, knocking down his hulking opponent in the ninth round and eventually earning...

Yulo adds two more golds and, with sibling’s help, pushes PH to 2nd

Carlos Yulo was a cut above the rest after cornering the vault and parallel bars titles for a mighty four-gold collection at the conclusion of the 2024 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Filipino fireball revalidated his billing anew as the continent’s finest, counting those earlier victories in the individual all-around and floor exercise. Yulo was on track to reign in the vault after a twin effort of 15.233...

Maliksi, Newsome lift Meralco over Ginebra to tie semis series

Maliksi, Newsome deliver for Meralco

Pat McAfee Called Out ESPN's Biased NBA Coverage On Monday

ESPN's own Pat McAfee joined in on the criticisms hurled toward the network for their Eastern Conference Semifinals coverage being too New York-biased. McAfee has never shied away from where his allegiances lie after spending the entirety of his pro football career in Indianapolis. But the former ...

UC Webmasters cruise to Northball-Danao City Mayor’s Cup semis

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters continued their dominating campaign in the Northball-Danao City Mayor’s Cup Basketball Tournament over the weekend. This was after they defeated fellow Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) team, the Benedicto College Cheetahs, 08-99, to cap off their elimination round campaign with a sweep in the open category’s bracket B. Forward Jhiey Paraldo led the Webmasters with 19...

Man Utd will sack Ten Hag after the FA Cup final following ‘alarm bell’ moment, says Ferdinand

Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand is now convinced that the Red Devils will now start next season with a new manager after Erik ten Hag's performance this term.

Cone sees Latvia, Georgia core intact in FIBA OQT

MANILA, Philippines — Tim Cone doesn't expect wholesale roster changes for Latvia and Georgia, two formidable foes Gilas Pilipinas will be facing in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia this July. In fact, Cone expects Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis to reinforce the Latvia side that placed a strong fifth during its FIBA World Cup debut in Manila last year. "Those are the games we are looking at, so maybe two or three...