Games Sunday

(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
11 a.m. – Ateneo vs UE/AU
2 p.m. – NU vs AdU
5 p.m. – FEU vs UST

MANILA — Vengeful University of Santo Tomas fended off College of St. Benilde, 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 32-30, in the thrilling knockout duel to catch the last bus in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 Final Four Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

The Golden Tigresses wasted a huge lead in the fourth set before recovering in time behind the heroics of Regina Jurado, Jonna Perdido, and Bianca Plaza for a sweet payback in the extended quarterfinals against the gritty Lady Blazers after a tough five-setter defeat in Game 1.

UST, with a win-once bonus as the No. 2 seed, thus marched on to arrange a semifinal battle against Far Eastern U for a seat in the championship of the SSL Season 2 backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.

Reigning champion National U, the only unbeaten team in the tourney, and Adamson is in the other pairing of the knockout Final Four today (Sunday) with the survivors advancing to the best-of-three finale starting on Friday.

Regina Jurado unloaded 16 points on 15 hits, an ace, and a block, including a bevy of clutch hits in the fourth set to show the way for UST to replicate a Final Four feat in the inaugural season.

Perdido and Angeline Poyos added 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Plaza made her presence felt down the wire with four points highlighted by the last two points for UST to win the extended duel, 32-30.

“We’re a young team against a veteran St. Benilde squad na two-time NCAA champion. Nakita nyo kung gaano sila ka-solid, ayaw talaga bumitaw. Nanalo kami sa disgrasya. Nadisgrasya namin sila sa huling palo kasi lahat ng set-up at attacks at combination play namin, nakapag-adjust sila,” said UST mentor Kungfu Reyes.

“Credits to St. Benilde. ‘Yun nga, we’re a young team and nahatak kami ng nahatak going into the semis. Malaking bagay sa amin ito lalo twice-to-beat kami, tapos twice beaten. ‘Yun sana ang branding namin.”

On the heels of a 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 11-15 loss in Game 1, UST imposed its will early by taking a commanding 2-0 lead only to cool down in the third set with a 25-19 defeat as two-time reigning NCAA champion St. Benilde proved its pedigree once again.

The Golden Tigresses moved on the verge of a quick 3-1 victory with a 24-21 lead in the fourth only to witness another Lady Blazers’ fightback to force a deuce and even snatch the driver’s seat at 27-26 off a Gayle Pascual hit.

Jurado and Perdido took turns neutralizing Rhea Mae Densing’s late hammers for a 30-all score before Plaza, who just subbed in the match for blocking purposes, uncorked two straight surprise attacks to lift UST to the hard-earned win.

Pascual and Densing fired 16 and 15 points, respectively, for St Benilde under the watch of coach Jerry Yee.

Meanwhile, Ateneo takes on St. Benilde in the other bracket of the classification matches with the University of the East and Arellano playing as of press time for the 5th-8th spots in the SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV, and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.

(AI/MNM)

Almost 500 athletes representing Team Philippines in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8 and the 4th Asian Para Games from October 22 to 28, are expected to turn up for the sendoff ceremony on Monday, September 18, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Reception Hall in Pasay City.

The 11 a.m. event, organized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) led by Chairman Richard Bachmann, invited the presence of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to provide the inspiration for the national squad to perform at their best at the upcoming quadrennial meet.

“Our athletes are the heart and soul of the country’s campaign in Hangzhou, both in the Asian Games and Asian Para Games,” said Chairman Bachmann.

The Opening Ceremony will be held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Center, with medals from 481 events in 61 disciplines to be disputed.

Team Philippines previously sent 271 athletes to the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta/Palembang in 2018 and brought home four golds, two silvers and 15 bronzes as the Nationals finished at 19th place.

The country’s golden performances that year were courtesy of golfer Yuka Saso (women’s individual and team events), weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz (53kg) and skateboarder Margielyn Didal.

“With the all-out support from our national government through the PSC, I’m positive that our athletes will deliver,” added the sports agency chief, who is set to be joined by PSC Commissioner Bong Coo, Commissioner Fritz Gaston, Commissioner Edward Hayco, and Commissioner Walter Torres in the event.

Sports officials from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC), the different National Sports Associations and Team Philippines’ Chef de Mission Richard Gomez are also expected to attend the sendoff rites.

Meanwhile, the government-run sports body also confirmed that all competing athletes will be provided monetary allowance during the course of the Games, regardless of the Category A and Category B classifications originally set by the POC and the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC).

“The PSC will always be here to give all the necessary support for our sports heroes,” concluded Bachmann. (ai/mnm)

MANILA – Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann on Friday announced the appointment of Paulo Francisco Tatad as the new executive director of the commission effective Aug. 1.

Prior to his appointment, Tatad served as ABS-CBN head of talent acquisition and was also head of Globe Telecom’s strategic talent sourcing.

“Right now, I am just warming the chair so there’s a lot of reviewing and revisiting,” the 47-year-old son of former senator and press secretary Francisco “Kit” Tatad said during a press conference at the PSC Conference Room inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

“We would like to strengthen and look at further implantation of policies as chairman Bachmann said, work stronger with the National Sports Association (NSA) community,” he added.

Paulo Tatad took over the helm from Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr., who handled the day-to-day affairs of the sports agency during the pandemic.

Iroy, a former member of the Asian Football Conderation (AFC) Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, is the PSC’s Deputy Executive Director Bureau on Coordinating Secretariat and Support Services when he was named acting executive director in 2020.

Tatad studied management economics at Ateneo de Manila University. He was captain of the men’s volleyball team in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Games and Batang Pinoy have new logos which were designed by the PSC in-house graphic team. (PNA)

“We want to put that premium for our grassroots sports programs.”

Thus said Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard Bachmann when he announced Friday the return of the Batang Pinoy (BP) and Philippine National Games (PNG) on December 17 to 22 this year.

In a press conference at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, the PSC chief said that “going around the provinces and all the sports events, we owe it to all the kids and the athletes to give them a good platform to perform in all sports. That’s one way the PSC can help, to give them that international-level of hosting from the logo to the branding.”

The two PSC-organized sporting events will be held simultaneously in Pasig City and Manila, and will feature 20 disciplines: archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, basketball 3×3, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, esports, gymnastics, karatedo, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, beach volleyball, weightlifting and wushu.

Like in previous editions of the PNG, competing athletes will be from ages 18 and above, while the Batang Pinoy will introduce a new age group of 17 years old and below. Specific sub-groupings of age will be on a per sport basis.

Bachmann, who was joined in the media briefing by newly appointed Executive Director Paulo Francisco Tatad, also unveiled the new logos for BP and PNG, focusing on the colors and traditional icons of the flag, while adding elements that highlight the essence of grassroots sports talents.

“Together with Chairman Bachmann, we will do our very best in the coming months and years to increase the participation of our youth in our grassroots sports programs like the BP and PNG, and improve our facilities and infrastructure for our athletes,” said Tatad, who officially started his tour of duty on August 1.

The PSC will be partnering with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Education, Philippine Olympic Committee and 20 national sports associations.

The PNG was declared the country’s centerpiece sports program through Executive Order No. 163 in 1994, while the Batang Pinoy, formerly known as the Philippine Youth Games, was created through Executive Order No. 44 in 1998.