NEWS
Breakthrough ICTSI Riviera win for Avaricio
Posted on Nov. 26, 8:22 p.m.
SILANG, Cavite – Chanelle Avaricio, twice denied of a top podium finish on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, broke through in style, capturing the ICTSI Riviera Ladies Challenge crown via a whopping seven-stroke romp over Harmie Constantino and Chihiro Ikeda on a closing 69 here yesterday.
Bracing for another tough drive to LPGT glory against a player who has racked up two victories in her rookie season, Avaricio wiped out Constantino’s two-stroke lead after 36 holes with a birdie-eagle feat on Nos. 3 and 7, respectively, then cruised to the lopsided victory at four-under 212 despite a two-birdie, two-bogey game the rest of the way.
For Constantino and amateur Mafy Singson failed to mount any challenge with the former surrendering the lead despite an even-par game after six holes and bowing out of the title race with three straight bogeys from No. 7. She yielded three more strokes in a birdie-less 78.
Twice winner of the Eagle Ridge-Aoki legs this year, Constantino still finished second at 219 despite that closing six-over card with Ikeda matching that output after fighting back from three early bogeys with birdies on Nos. 8 and 14 for a 73.
“Still in shock but I felt happy that I finally won,” said Avaricio, who lost to absentee Princess Superal twice at Sherwood and Eagle Ridge-Norman last July.
The Alabama State U product finished fourth at Aoki and struggled to sixth place at Highlands but got back into the thick of things with a 70 Thursday that put her within two strokes off Constantino.
“This victory exceeded all my expectations and I want to thank ICTSI for sponsoring our circuit,” said Avaricio, who banged in a birdie putt from long range on No. 3 then pulled off two solid shots on the par-5 seventh and drained in the eagle putt from pin-high distance.
“Sana more (wins) to come in the future,” added Avaricio, who banked her biggest earnings of P101,250 since turning pro in mid-2019.
Constantino and Ikeda each received P63,750.
Singson, who contended for the pro crown in the last two stops of the Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.-organized circuit at Aoki and Highlands, pressed her bid with a birdie on No. 5. But like the rest of the pursuers, succumbed to tough conditions and tricky surface of the Couples course, reeling with four bogeys against another birdie for 74 and a 220 for joint fourth with Sunshine Baraquiel, whose two-birdie feat after seven holes sparked some hopes for the recent Highlands leg winner to wage a comeback.
But the lady pilot sputtered with three bogeys against one more birdie as she settled for a second straight 72 and took P54,000.
After romping off with the low amateur honors in the last two tournaments, Singson stared at losing her shot at a third straight as Laurea Duque moved to joint second with an even par card after 13 holes. She still led Singson by one despite a bogey on the 16th but failed to score a follow-up on her Aoki feat last March with a closing double-bogey.
Duque wound up with a 75 and ended up instead at sixth with 221, enabling Singson to nail another trophy in the circuit put up by ICTSI.
“I could’ve finished better but it was okay,” said Singson, who rued her bout with a balky putter majority of the way. “I hit most of the greens but the greens are really tricky and was able to make just two birdies.
Marvi Monsalve battled back with a 73 to finish seventh at 225 while Daniella Uy hardly recovered from a disastrous second round 79 with a 75 to place eighth at 227 followed by Korean rookie pro Jane Jeong, who limped with an 82 for a 231, and Florence Bisera, who also skied with an 80 for a 232.
Meanwhile, the compact field heads to the adjacent Langer course for the ICTSI Riviera Ladies Championship on Dec. 1-3 with the tour winding up its third restart on Dec. 14-16 for the ICTSI Midlands Ladies Classic.
NEWS
Ateneo, UP face off again for UAAP title
December 7, 2022 9:54 p.m.
For the second straight season, it will be Ateneo de Manila University versus University of the Philippines in the UAAP men’s basketball finals.
Moments after the Fighting Maroons escaped National University, the Blue Eagles thrashed Adamson University, 81-60, to advance to its sixth consecutive Finals appearance on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Game One of the best-of-three championship series will be on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“We had our best offensive performance of the year. I think when you get some time to prepare and your opponent doesn’t have much time and they were playing on heart, they were playing on Nash’s brain, and all of those things they have a ton of,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.
“But the cauldron of the semifinals you need more than that you need time to prepare, you need rest, and you need a full team hitting on all cylinders and tonight we were that team,” continued Baldwin.
Already ahead by eight early in the third period, Dave Ildefonso scored eight straight points before Ange Kouame and Chris Koon connived to end the quarter with 19 unanswered points and give Ateneo a 27-point advantage heading into the fourth, 63-36.
Sean Quitevis then opened the payoff frame with another trey to put the Blue Eagles up by 30 with 9:14 left, 66-36, before Jed Colonia made the Soaring Falcons’ first basket in nine minutes with 8:30 to go. Jerom Lastimosa last scored on a layup at the 7:27 mark of the third.
Forthsky Padrigao had 16 points and five assists, while Koon was 4-of-5 from deep to end with 15 points to go with five assists and a plus-21 in his 19 minutes on the floor.
Kai Ballungay chimed in 13 points, while Ildefonso had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Lastimosa was the lone Falcon in double figures with 10 points on a woeful 4-of-15 shooting from the field.
NEWS
Adamson eliminates La Salle, claims last seat in Final 4
December 4, 2020 10:11 p.m.
Adamson University knocked out De La Salle University, 80-76, to grab the last Final Four spot in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament, Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Soaring Falcons will face top seed Ateneo de Manila University, which holds a twice-to-beat edge, in the Final Four on Wednesday, 6 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We’re happy to be in the Final Four. We’re actually gatecrashing the Final Four. People didn’t expect us to be in the Final Four, they expected I don’t know what you call them… big spenders. To me, they’re all big spenders but I’m happy the team did their part,” said Adamson coach Nash Racela.
“We will check our emotions because we don’t want to be in a high because may trabaho pa and we’re still gonna play Wednesday and the weekend,” he added.
With the Falcons down by a single point, Lenda Douanga took matters into his own hands, draining a push shot before dishing to Cedrick Manzano the next play for the reverse layup and a three-point Adamson lead with 58.8 seconds left, 77-74.
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After multiple empty possessions on both ends, Evan Nelle came up clutch, stealing Joem Sabandal’s inbound and burying a lay-in to pull La Salle within one with 15.4 ticks to go, 76-77.
The Green Archers were forced to put Jerom Lastimosa on the line in the ensuing play, which the Soaring Falcon made both to push them up by three anew, 79-76, before Nelle missed his three-pointer attempt badly, only hitting the side of the board as Joshua Yerro iced the game from the charity stripe.
La Salle led by as much as 13 in the third frame, 51-38, but Lastimosa went ballistic, going for 11 from his 22 points there to help Adamson inch within one at the end of the quarter, 59-60.
Lastimosa also added six assists and a steal, while Yerro had 13 points and six rebounds.
AP Manlapaz chimed in 22 points, while Douanga got 10 points and seven rebounds.
In the sudden death playoff for fourth seed, the Green Archers did not have three of their best players in Schonny Winston, Mike Phillips, and Kevin Quiambao.
NEWS
URCC 81: Decades of Success happens Dec. 6 in Okada
November 27, 2022 7:22 p.m.
THE Universal Reality Combat Championship will celebrate two decades of greatness titled the “Decades of Success” in a fight night on December 6, featuring the country’s best mixed martial artists at the Okada Manila in Parañaque City.
Three years since the last time they held their last main event, URCC founding president Alvin Aguilar announced the coming URCC 81 will definitely be a night to remember with events like the 3 Versus 3, MMA fight and the bare-knuckle bouts.
“Our first main event in three years will definitely be an unforgettable night in mixed martial arts. We have a lot of good fighters and everyone is very excited,” Aguilar said.
The last time URCC held a main event — Retribution— was in November 2019, at the same venue. Despite the pandemic, URCC didn’t stop as it held three fight nights when the government finally allowed contact sports.
In celebrating URCC’s main event return, Aguilar will be having Team Philippines of Sugar Ray “Mammoth” Estroso, Caloy “Bad Boy” Baduria and Boss Bullet Manliclic taking up against South Koreans Jeong Minhun, Choi Wontae and Jeon Youngjun in an exciting 3 versus 3 event.
“We have to go up against other Asian countries before we start expanding. So we meet Korea then later on China again and then we will invite people from Russia and the USA. This is the fourth time we will be holding this 3 versus 3 fight,” Aguilar said, who also expects the other events to live up to the hype.
A URCC welterweight interim championship is also set between Filipino Arvin Chan and American Will Chope as the other highlight of the main event presented by Okada Manila and sponsored by Winzir.
URCC Global Chairman Arnold Vegafria said the promotions have been evolving since 2002, becoming a household name in the local mixed martial arts industry, where it discovered great MMA fighters and promoted quality fights abroad.
For inquiries about tickets sale, go to www.urcc.online and download app https://apps.wix.com/place-invites/join-lp/b4e05b90-55a0-40a8-8fac-17ccf4a2c074?ref=pre_banner_top which is available for iOS and Google.
Other MMA undercard bouts feature Dunlee Stewart facing John Tirona in a 170 lbs bout, followed by Gester Maglaque meeting Mariano Jones in an 185 lbs bout; Kimbert Alintozon battling Junie Kimayong (125 lbs); Rhyle Lugo clashing against Alex Aballe (145 lbs) and Eros Baluyot taking on MJ Abrillo (125 lbs).
For the thrilling bare-knuckle competitions, Damsa Abrenica collides with Joseph “King Pinoy” Cabral, while Dondon Serrano squares off with Sherwin Niro and Denzel Dimaguila fights Mark Jalaron.
Details of the fight and future fight cards are available to download at https://apps.wix.com/place-invites/join-lp/b4e05b90-55a0-40a8-8fac-17ccf4a2c074?ref=pre_banner_top, which is available for iOS and Google.
Ateneo, UP face off again for UAAP title
Excellent holiday season with promos by Taiwan Excellence products
