SPORTS
PAGE 12 Aug 14, 2014 - Aug 20, 2014
Saso wins in California
The San Francisco Post
PH retains overall title in Singapore meet MANILA - The Philippine Swimming League (PSL) put an exclamation point to a successful title retention campaign in the 2014 Singapore Invitational Swimming Championship by hauling in 69 gold medals at the close of the tournament at the Singapore Island Country Club. The PSL team added 55 silvers and 37 bronzes to its medal harvest, surpassing its 50-gold, 42-silver, 30-bronze performance last year. Eight of its members also received the Most Outstanding Swimmer awards in their age groups. Sean Terence Zamora bagged the award in the boys’ 13-14 category, Jesreel Francisco in the girls’ 11-12, Ma. Paula Angela Villamil in the girls’ 13-14, Angelica Mae Medrano in the girls’ 1517, Delia Angela Cordero in the girls’ 18-over, Christen Mercado in the boys’
18-over, Emanuel Solina in the boys’ 7-8 and Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh in the girls’ 7-8. “We are happy with the outcome. It was indeed glory to glory. The first time we were here in 2010, we only started with 12 swimmers. Now, we are the back-toback champions. It only shows that the grassroots development program of the PSL is effective,” said PSL president Susan Papa. On the final day afternoon session, PSL won 24 more golds, including three from Medrano (100m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m breaststroke). Zamora (100m free and 100m breast), Solina (100m free and 50m fly), Villamil (100m free and 50m fly), Mojdeh (50m fly and 100m breast), Patrick Tierie (boys’ 18-over 50m fly and 100m fly) and Jesreel Francisco (girls 11-12 100m free and 50m fly) contributed two golds
each. Joves and Daryl Concepcion also grabbed some spotlight by breaking records in their events. Joves registered 1:12.19 in the 100m back while Concepcion submitted 30.44 second in the boys’ 13-14 50m back. “We have new and old swimmers in this international competition. We accelerated our program for novice so they may not only be exposed but would be learn early the world class way of meet,” said Papa. “ I would like to congratulate the PSL for giving opportunities to these young swimmers to represent our country and give us honor and pride. I also commend their parents and coaches for letting their kids experience this kind of international competition,” said former senator and delegation head Nikki Coseteng.
Big dream for Little Azkals YUKA Saso held off ICTSI teammate Bernice OlivarezIlas’ sizzling round to capture the 25th Annual Costa Mesa Championship crown with a closing three-under 67 for a three-stroke victory at the Mesa Linda Course in California Friday. Saso lost in a final day shootout with Ilas, who scorched the par-70 layout with a sterling six-under 64, but the former secured the victory with back-to-back birdies from No. 17. She wound up with a 139, nailing his second straight win after dominating the PING Summer Championship Series at Mission Hills in Southern California last month. Saso, the 12-year-old newest member of Team ICTSI, actually wavered at the frontside with two bogeys against a birdie for a 36 but birdied the first two holes at the back then holed out with two more to frustrate Ilas for the Class B (11-14) honors.
Sam Martirez carded a twoover 72 but still edged ICTSI teammate Abby Arevalo by two for the Class A (15-18) crown with a 146. Arevalo, coming off a win in the PING tilt, struggled with a 76 for a 148 while Sam Nakahira placed third with a 151 after a 76. Six down at the start of the final round of the 36-hole tournament, Ilas birdied Nos. 2 and 3, reeled back with a bogey on the next but birdied No. 5. She matched Saso’s birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 then hit two more on Nos. 15 and 16 to close within one but missed her own birdie chances on the last two holes and settled for runner-up honors at 142. Sofia Chabon capped the Philippines domination of the event by finishing third at 149 after a 72 while Mikhaela Fortuna wound up fourth with a 151 after a 73 followed by local bet Chayse Gomez, who skied to a 79 for a 156.
“When I presented my credentials to make it to the World Cup. Football MANILA - A pool of 22 kids from all over the country will train for the to President Aquino last year, we is the world’s favorite sport and in next five years in an ambitious pro- spoke about how despite the Philip- the US, soccer, as football is called gram to qualify for the 2019 FIFA pines’ obsession with basketball, the there, is the most widely played sport U17 World Cup and the Philippine national team could never win the among the youth, more than baseball, basketball or American football.” Football Federation (PFF) Ambassador Ahmad said beis laying the groundwork to cause of football’s popularity on achieve the feat with support a global scale, it has far-reaching from the British Council and commercial implications. He British Ambassador Asif Ancited the case of Thailand where war Ahmad. a potential audience of 10 milAmbassador Ahmad hosted lion is pulled in to watch foota lunch in his Forbes Park ball matches on TV, particularly residence last Thursday to when the country’s favorite clubs honor the Little Azkals and Liverpool and Manchester Unittheir sponsors, including Pru ed of the Premier League play. Life UK, SM Lifestyle En“It’s all about keeping the dream tertainment and ABS-CBN. alive,” said Ambassador Ahmad PFF president Mariano Arawho wore an English football neta, British Council Philippines country director Nicho- Little Azkals (from left) No. 12 Greg Naquines, No. shirt with a single star, depictlas Thomas, Azkals star Phil 8 Tristan Enad and No. 20 Karl Soloma in action. ing the country’s only World Cup title in 1966, over the national Younghusband, SM Lifestyle team’s emblem. “Whenever Entertainment president Ed Tejerero, ABS-CBN head of News world championship because of the there is a World Cup, we English and Current Affairs Ging Reyes and height factor,” said Ambassador Ah- fans believe it will be our year. When multi-awarded broadcast journal- mad. “But in football, it’s different. we don’t make it, we hold on to our ist and producer Che-Che Lazaro Through the Little Azkals, we hope dream for the next World Cup.” attended the affair which also an- to create a dream for the Philippines nounced the airing of the TV special “Pangarap Kong World Cup” on Channel 2 at 10 tonight.
REAL ESTATE
Real estate’s epic rebound starts to cool off NEW YORK -- The U.S. real-estate market has stormed back over the past five years after enduring its most brutal period since the Great Depression. The rebound has re warded investors and boosted the overall economy. The Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index, whose components include real-estate investment trusts as well as mortgage, realty and forestry companies, has climbed 92% since e a r l y 2 0 0 9 . That gain, amid a rise of a b o u t 20% in the median price of new and existing homes over the past two years, is a bit less than the 114% rise for the S&P 500 index. But it’s an impressive recovery for a sector devastated by a historic slump starting in mid-2007. Now, however, there are growing signs of a slowdown. While the current weakness could provide investors with an opportunity to place new wagers at lower prices, analysts warn that the environment has become more challenging. If the Federal Reserve begins raising interest rates next year, as expected, it could become harder to make money from real-estate investments, the analysts say. Home prices around the U.S. rose 9.3% in May from a year earlier, according to the Case-Shiller index. But that rise was less than forecast and represented the lowest annualized gain since February 2013. On a monthly basis, home prices fell 0.3% in June, the first negative month since January 2012. Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at Lindsey Group, notes that the supply of homes for sale today represents 5.8 months of demand, the most since October 2011. All regions have seen declining new-home sales lately, and new
mortgage applications are also slipping. “The first-time home buyer is just not the factor that it once was,” he says. “Without the firsttime home buyer, and now with a reduction in the pace of investor purchases, the recovery will remain lumpy.” For home buyers, the slowdown is good: Slowing price gains and low interest rates make homes more affordable. “From an individual perspective, the best investment you can make is to buy a primary residence,” John Paulson, who runs hedge fund Paulson & Co., recently said. “Today financing costs are extraordinarily low. You can get a 30-year mortgage somewhere around 4½%.” It’s a much more challenging environment for real-estate investment trusts, or REITs. These are shares of firms that own and operate hotel, office and other commercial real-estate, and invest in mortgage securities (though the category can include companies involved in other industries). They pay at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. REITs have been among the best performers for much of the year, partly because they yield nearly 4% on average. That’s attractive in a low-rate environment. The MSCI U.S. REIT Index is up about 15% this year, well ahead of the overall stock market. But REITs could come under pressure if interest rates rise. Last week, yields on 10-year Treasurys climbed as evidence grew that the U.S. economy had firmed, making a rate boost more likely. Further, REITs are considered expensive based on “adjusted funds from operations,” a widely used metric for valuing these shares.