Miller seeks redemption at Winter Olympics
February 15, 2022 5:19 p.m.
YANQING, China—Asa Miller gets a shot at redemption on Wednesday in the highly unpredictable men’s slalom of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
After taking a day’s off on Monday to shake off frustration from his mishap in the giant slalom on Sunday, Miller took to the course on Tuesday not only to get his legs and arms get the feel of the course again, but reset his focus as well.
“Trust your feet and trust yourself as the skier you are,” American coach Will Gregorak told his 21-year-old and two-time Olympian ward in between training runs at the National Alpine Skiing Centre. “It’s similar to what I told you before—the best you can possibly ski on race day is to ski like yourself.”
The start list won’t be known until during the coaches’ meeting set later Tuesday, but definitely, Miller will be up against world-class opponents seeking Olympic glory—including the man they call “The Rocket,” Dave Ryding.Most eyes are on Ryding, whose tough task is to end Great Britain’s lengthy wait for a first Olympic medal in Alpine skiing. Alain Baxter won Britain’s first Olympic medal in Alpine skiing, but was stripped of his slalom bronze at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games for using a decongestant that contained a banned stimulant.
Ryding, now 35, is in his fourth Olympics.
Gregorak was aggressive in helping Miller put his mind on the course.
“You’re not going to become another person and you are already an excellent skier,” the 31-year-old coach told the Filipino-American athlete. “All you have to do is find the feeling that you already know.”
Gregorak added: “When you get into the gate, it’s just you and the course. Go and have some fun by making your best turn.”
Just how unpredictable was Alpine skiing this season? There were six World Cup slaloms with six different winners with only four skiers making the podium more than once and no one doing it more than twice.
Miller was one of 33 skiers—out of 84 starters—who were DNF (Did Not Finish) in the giant slalom on Sunday when natural snow fell incessantly for the first time in the Games during the weekend and rendered visibility poor at the Ice River course.
Besides Ryding, the other favorites include World Cup veteran Lucas Braathen of Norway, 2017 world champion Manuel Ferrer of Austria, 2018 world junior champion Noel Clement of France, and Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics team event gold medalist Daniel Yule of Great Britain.Miller, whose Olympic campaign is fully supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, concentrated on his training and only smiled or waved his hand when sought for an interview.Gregorak, meanwhile, said that the slalom “hill is a little bit an easier place than giant slalom” so he is expecting more racers to finish.
“It’s an easier slalom hill than GS [giant slalom] where the upper and lower pitches were very difficult,” said Gregorak, who owns 23 World Cup stints while playing for the US team from 2008 to 2014. “This is exactly a mellow slalom, not a particularly difficult hill so there should be plenty of skiers who will go pretty intensely.”
“GS is the purest form of ski racing and technically the most difficult,” he said. “Slalom comes at you the fastest even though you don’t move as fast as other events, but not technically difficult like GS.”
The giant slalom’s first run is also set at 10 a.m. and the second run is slated at 1:45 p.m.
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.
TECHNOLOGY
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December 7, 2022 7:51 p.m.
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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.
Ateneo, UP face off again for UAAP title
Excellent holiday season with promos by Taiwan Excellence products
