Sports
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THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
Sotto to focus on Batang Gilas By Peter Atencio
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RAINING and playing for the Batang Gilas national squad that will see action in the FIBA World Under-19 Championship in Greece will be 7’2” Kai Sotto’s first priority. This is what he initially intends to do when he flies to Atlanta, Georgia in the United States in the first week of April. “May under-19 tournament pa siya. Tatapusin niya ito. At saka siya babalik ulit ng US,” said Kai’s dad Ervin Sotto, who spoke on his behalf. The 16-year-old Sotto is taking steps to become a better player after he was shown opportunities that may someday allow him to play in the National Basketball Association. Training full time for the next two months will be his goal at the moment. Studying and possibly playing for a
college or a university that is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association is still out of the question. Signing a contract with an agent could reportedly nullify any plans for Kai to become a student-athlete while in the US. The family of Kai made their plans known on Tuesday through Ervin during a sendoff party held at the Marquee Tent of the EDSA Shangrila Hotel in Mandaluyong. The sendoff party, which was attended by Sotto’s friends, relatives, supporters and teammates from the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, was hosted by Bounty Agro Ven-
tures, Inc president/CEO, and Chooks to Go executive Ronald Mascarinas. Mascarinas, who is one of Sotto’s top supporters, is bankrolling Sotto’s US trip. “Unang stop namin ay sa US. Kasi, kailangan ni Kai na magpalakas ng katawan. Alam natin na ang basketball ay isang physical game,” said the elder Sotto. The young Sotto will be in the US for two months, not just to train, but find a camp that’s tailor-made for tall players. Sotto will be back home by June to be with the Batang Gilas squad that’s being prepared for Greece. “Masaya po ako at nakasama ko kayo sa aking pag-alis,” said Sotto on the big turnout of wellwishers during his sendoff. Mascarinas and his roasted chicken business Chooks-to-Go promised to fund Sotto’s overseas training. “We’re very excited about Kai Sotto. He’s the Yao Ming or the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Philippines. We’re excited to be
part of his development. Whether nandito si Kai or sa labas ng bansa, our support will continue,” said Mascarinas. Sotto, who played for three years with the Blue Eaglets, averaged 25.1 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 blocks in 29.7 minutes on his final season. Sotto has plans of making it to the NBA by 2021. The Blue Eaglets went on to settle for runner up honors in the last season of the UAAP junior basketball tournament after losing to the Nazareth School-National National University Bullpups. Despite the loss, Sotto still claimed the season MVP award. Ervin confirmed that clubs like the EuroLeague’s Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Baskonia, Bundesliga’s Alda Berlin and Liga ACB’s Movistar Estudiantes are interested in his son. But their camp has not made a final decision on the offers.
Arellano U cheerdancers seek 3-peat THE Arellano University Chiefsquad will take to the floor and go for a threepeat in the NCAA Cheerleading competition, which will air live on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD with livestreaming on iWant Sports on Thursday (March 28) starting at 3 p.m. from the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. With six titles under its belt, including back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, the Chiefsquad remains the favorite in the competition that signifies the closing of the current NCAA season. Among its top competitors are 12time champion Altas Perpsquad of the University of Perpetual Help System Daltas’s (UPHSD) and the San Beda Red Corps of the San Beda University’s (SBU), which placed second and third respectively in Season 93. Also aiming for a win are the Lakas Arriba Cheerleading Team of Colegio De San Juan de Letran (CSJL), the College of Saint Benilde (CSB)Pep Squad, the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals Pep Squad, the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Pep Squad, the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), Mapua University Cheerping Cardinals (MU); and the Golden Stags Cheerleading Squad of San Sebastian College-Recoletos (SSC-R). The final competition for the NCAA this season will be hosted by NCAA panelist Andrei Felix and former PBB housemate Dawn Chang. Meanwhile, the special performances during the event will be led by Kapamilya actress, and Star Music artist, Janella Salvador along with champions of the Japanese Cheerleading Open 2018, the Taguig Science High School Sinag Pep Squad. Don’t miss the beats, cheers, and the awe-inspiring stunts of the students of the NCAA as the NCAA Season 94 Cheerleading Competition beams LIVE on S+A, S+A HD, and via livestream on iWant Sports and ABS-CBN Sports’ website starting at 3 p.m. from the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. For more stories and news on the oldest collegiate league in the land, the NCAA, follow @ABSCBNSports on Twitter and Facebook or visit sports. abs-cbn.com. For updates, follow @ ABSCBNPR on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or visit www.abscbnpr.com.
A young Jr. NBA participant keeps her eyes locked on the ring as she tries to escape her opponent’s pesky defense.
9 North Luzon bets join Jr NBA camp OVER a thousand young basketball players from Baguio, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan and other nearby provinces joined the Jr. NBA Philippines North Luzon Regional Selection Camp at Benguet State University in La Trinidad on March 23 and 24. After two days of basketball drills and exercises, seven boys and two girls exhibited outstanding oncourt skills and embodied the core values of the game and will move on to the next stage of the program—the Jr. NBA Philippines National Training Camp-- in Don Bosco Technical Institute Makati on May 17 to 19. A roster of 40 boys and 40 girls will be gathered from the Jr. NBA Philippines Regional Selection Camps in Benguet, Butuan, Dumaguete, Lucena, and Metro Manila, and a select group from the Alaska Power Camp. Players from across the archipelago will showcase their talents and vie to be named as Jr. NBA Philippines All-Stars. “What I’ve noticed here in Baguio is
that there are a lot of good dribblers. The kids here are very competitive, very enthusiastic. They’re working hard. The three questions I always ask the kids —Did you have fun? Did you give your best? And the last one is, do you love basketball? And it’s all, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and I think that’s our goal here, making sure that the kids are learning basketball, they’re having fun and more importantly they are giving their best,” said former PBA player Tony dela Cruz from presenting partner Alaska. This year, Jr. NBA Philippines AllStars—comprised of as many as five boys and five girls—will compete in the first Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia Pacific Selection Camp, a week-long camp in June that includes top youth players from North Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. The Asia Pacific regional competition will provide the 2019 batch of Jr. NBA All-Stars the opportunity to represent the region in the Jr. NBA Global Championship that will be held Aug. 6 to 11 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt
Disney World near Orlando, Florida. The international event will feature talented youth from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, China, Mexico, Africa, India and the Asia-Pacific. Boys and girls aged 10-14 years old can join the remaining Jr. NBA Philippines Regional Selection Camps in Dumaguete (March 30 and 31), Butuan (April 13 and 14) and Metro Manila (April 27 and 28) by registering at www.jrnba.asia/philippines. Jr. NBA Philippines 2019 is presented by Alaska, with AXA, Gatorade, Globe, Panasonic, Rexona and Vivo as official partners. ABS-CBN S+A, Basketball TV and NBA Premium TV are the official broadcasters of Jr. NBA Philippines. For all things NBA, fans can follow Jr. NBA on Facebook and the NBA at www.nba.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Fans can visit www.alaskamilk. com to learn more about the Alaska Milk Corporation, and follow Alaska Milk on Facebook for more information about Alaska Sports.
GoPilipinasGo pep rally unites Phisgoc, PSC PHILIPPINE Southeast Asian Games organising committee chair Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday night vowed to leave behind the bickering among sports officials as he tried to rally Team Philippines toward the overall title in the coming Games. Speaking before some 1,300 national athletes and coaches during the pep rally and concert spearheaded by GoPilipinasGo movement, Cayetano said: “We will try work harder. We will try to get along better, we will try to get more funds.’ It was a show of solidarity among sports officials as Cayetano shared the stage with Philippine Sports Commission Butch Ramirez, chief of mission Monsour del Rosario, Philippine Olympic Committee board member Jonne and Philspada head Mike Barredo. Cayetano told the athletes to just stay focused on training as they released white doves in a symbolic gesture of unity. “It’s a humbling experience for myself, for chairman Butch, and
for everyone here on stage because you the athletes continue to teach us a lot,’’ said Cayetano. ``It’s easy to say win as one, but there’s a lot of hard work that we should put into winning as one,’’ added the former senator and secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Leading the Filipino legends who took the stage and inspired the athletes were bowling Hall of Famer Bong Coo, Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo Stephen Fernandez, SEA Games and Asian Games wushu champ Willy Wang. ``We have two objectives. One is we need to win the overall title and secondly, we want the 10 other countries to say na iba talaga maghost ang pinoy,’’ said Cayetano. Olympic weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, SEAG backto-back triathlon gold winner Nikko Huelgas and World gymnastics bronze medalist Caloy Yulo also exhorted their fellow athletes through videos they made while training abroad.
(From left-right) POC board member Jonne Go, chef de mission Monsour del Rosario, Mike Barredo of Philspada, Phisgoc chairman Alan Peter Cayetano and PSC chairman Butch Ramirez.
SuBIT part of One Belt One Series THE 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup slated on April 27 and 28 gained added significance as it ushers in the 2019 One Belt One Road Triathlon series. This arrangement highlights the enduring relationship for decades between the Triathlon Association of the Philippines, the Chinese Taipei Triathlon Association and the China Triathlon Sports Association. The CTSA, for this year, will dispatch the Chinese national team to compete in the SuBIT with TRAP reciprocating with a team of triathletes seeing action in the 2019 Lianyungang ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup and 2019 Jiayuguan ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup. The latter events serve as the second and third legs of the One Belt One Road Triathlon series. “For the past years, Triathlon Association of Philippines and China Triathlon Sports Association have been keeping a good relationship and communication. Thanks for the invitation and help from TRAP, Chinese National Triathlon Teams participated in Subic Bay ASTC Triathlon Asian Cups for many times and got good results. “Meanwhile, our two national federations have always been supporting each other during ASTC Congress elections and other international activities,” CTSA Secretary General Chen Xiaoran stated. For its part, the CTTA is sending the Chinese Taipei national team and a good number of age-groupers to join the SuBIT. Registration for the SuBIT is ongoing with entry fees now set at P5,500 per participant for Standard Distance, P5,000 for Sprint Distance, P4,000 for Super Sprint Distance and P9,000 for Team Relay. Listup ends on March 31 or earlier when all slots have been filled up. Online registration can be done at https://regonline.activeglobal.com/ subit2019 For more information, visit Triathlon.org.ph or send email at trapsecretariat@gmail.com
Chan, Gabasa prepare for intense golf duel AIDRIC Chan and Junia Gabasa gear up for a fierce duel with the best of the rest while a mix of young, promising players seek to grab the spotlight in the 2019 Philippine Junior Amateur Open Golf Championship slated April 2-5 at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martires, Cavite. Chan, who has posted a number of low amateur honors in the country’s pro circuit, goes all out for one title in his final year in the junior ranks as he faces a slew of young but talented rivals, led by Sean Ramos and Josh Jorge, in the centerpiece Albatross (1518) division of the stroke play competition serving as leg of the PLDT Group National Amateur Tour. Ramos, 15, claimed two victories last year, ruling the Cangolf Am Open in wire-to-wire fashion then nipping the 16-year-old Jorge, a former winner of the Veritas World Junior Golf International in California, for the NGAP’s Northern Luzon Regional plum at Beverly Place in Pampanga. Others tipped to vie for the crown in the event, sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific, are Carl Corpus, Paolo Wong, Joaquin Barro, Joaquin Gomez and Jacob Rolida, both 17, David Guangko, Rald Sarmiento and Joachim Yu, all 15, and Riggs Illescas, Masaichi Otake and Pierre Ticzon and Koreans Kim Sang Jin, Kwon Tae Yon and Lee Sang Min. Listup is ongoing. For details, call NGAP at telefax (02) 706-5926 or Sherwood Hills Golf Club at (049) 419-0578, email ngap2009handicap@yahoo.com or visit www.ngaponline.net. Deadline for registration is on March 29 at 12 noon. Gabasa, on the other hand, shoots for a follow-up to her WExpress RVP Cup romp last February against Kristine Fleetwood, Sophia Blanco, Isabela Tee, Kayla Nocum, Rafaela Singsoin and Korean Kang Da Yun in the girls’ premier side of the event that features seven other categories as part of the National Golf Association of the Philippines’ grassroots program.