Sports Maneja shines in PPS netfest JUSTINE Maneja romped off with the 16-and-under crown then stunned top seed Denise Bernardo to snare the 18-U title to complete a “twin-kill” in the PPS-PEPP Dr. Pablo Olivarez national age-group 2019 at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque last Sunday. Maneja, 16, dominated her age bracket, yielding eight games in three matches before trouncing Gaby Zoleta, 6-3, 6-0, in the finals. The rising star from Quezon City repeated over Zoleta in the 18-U semis, 6-1, 7-5, then upended Bernardo, 6-0, 6-1, to emerge the lone two-title winner in the Group 1 tournament sponsored by Dr. Pablo Olivarez. Unranked Joaquin de Leon provided the sparks in the five-day tournament spread over two holidays and weekends to allow the student-athletes to play without missing their respective classes, snatching the boys’ 16-U diadem via a 3-6, 6-0, 11-9 decision over Samuel Nuguit. He also finished runner-up in the 18-U division ruled by fellow Imus, Cavite bet Laurenz Quitara, 2-6, 6-2, 10-7, and shared the MVP honors with the girls’ champ in the event presented by Dunlop and held as part of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala circuit. “It’s inspiring to see these studentathletes putting up their best efforts in pursuit of ranking points in the circuit where fresh faces and promising talents continue to emerge,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro. Other winners were siblings Kriz Roque Lim (10-unisex) and John Prince Lim (boys’ 12-U) from Urdaneta, Pangasinan; Las Piñas’ Nuguit (boys’ 14U); A;abang’s Margarita Labio (girls’ 12-U); and Sta. Rosa, Laguna’s Melody Dizon (girls’ 14-U) while prevailing in doubles division of the tournament, sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg, were Zoleta-Julia Ignacio and Quitara-Jester Ocio (18-U); Francine Dizon-Shaira Silva and Diva-Prince Ricamara (14-U); and Davila-Kriz Lim (10-unisex).
Osaka remains world’s no. 1 PARIS—Naomi Osaka retained top place in the WTA rankings on Monday in an unchanged top 20 with two weeks to go to Wimbledon. Osaka and French Open winner Ashleigh Barty are playing on grass in Birmingham this week in preparation for Wimbledon. American Alison Riske moves up 12 places to 49th following her win over Kiki Bertens in the final of the s’Hertogenbosch tournament in the Netherlands on Sunday. WTA rankings as of June 17 (changes in brackets): 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 6,377 pts; 2. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 6,125; 3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,685; 4. Kiki Bertens (NED) 5,425; 5. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 4,925; 6. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,675; 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 3,967; 8. Simona Halep (ROU) 3,963; 9. Sloane Stephens (USA) 3,682; 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,565; 11. Serena Williams (USA) 3,411; 12. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 3,366; 13. Belinda Bencic (SUI) 2,953; 14. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 2,833; 15. Qiang Wang (CHN) 2,752; 16. Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 2,746; 17. Madison Keys (USA) 2,615; 18. Johanna Konta (GBR) 2,430; 19. Julia Gorges (GER) 2,400; 20. Anett Kontaveit (EST) 2,335. AFP
A7
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
Shooting mars Raptors’ revelry T
ORONTO—A giant parade to celebrate the Toronto Raptors winning their first NBA title was marred Monday by a shooting behind the downtown stage at Nathan Phillips Square —which left two people badly injured and sent revelers fleeing in panic.
A crowd estimated at more than one million people gathered across downtown Toronto for a parade in tribute of the team, but the victory rally at the jampacked square was briefly halted by gunshots. Toronto police tweeted that two victims had serious but not life-threatening injuries, two people were in custody as a result of the incident and two firearms had been recovered. Footage shared on social media showed dozens of people scattering from the area behind the stage. But with a crowd of 65,000 packing the square, the celebration went on with only a delay of about two minutes, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joining the team on stage to celebrate the Raptors’ success. “Raptors fans, every day you showed what Canada is made of, people who believe,” Trudeau told the rally. People had begun camping out overnight to fill the square, so many that police told people to avoid the area. Subway stations were closed to limit access. In a super-sized version of the crowds that packed “Jurassic Park” outside the team’s arena to watch game telecasts, supporters filled the square after more than two hours of delays because spectators spilled onto the parade route to witness players ride by on open-topped buses. “You think the parade is going to be amazing and you can’t even picture this,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s pretty cool.” The Raptors beat defending champion Golden State 114-110 on Thursday in California to capture the best-
Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors interacts with the crowd during the Toronto Raptors’ Championship Victory Parade in Toronto, Ontario. AFP
of-seven NBA Finals four games to two. “It’s amazing,” Raptors star Kawhi Leonard said. “Everybody is out. I don’t think anybody went to work today. Everybody got the day off. Look at it. It’s crazy. “Thank you Canada for the support. We did it.” NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Leonard said the team has been celebrating ever since they ran off the court in Oakland. “The last few days have been amazing,” Leonard said. “No sleep. A lot of celebrating. And we’re going to keep going.” Players wore T-shirts, sunglasses and held cigars and champagne as they watched people line Lake Shore Boulevard and York Street. “This is why we wanted to win a championship,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said. “This is unbelievable. And we ain’t even close to being done.” Raptors superfan rapper Drake called it, “One of the most important moments I’ve ever been on stage.” In the ceremony, a roadway near the arena was renamed “Raptors Way” and Leonard accepted the key to the city on behalf of the team to chants of “M-V-P.” “This thing is so special because of you guys,” Nurse told the crowd—moments before the shooting briefly halted festivities. ‘Joy on people’s faces’ The last time Toronto celebrated a major North American sports title was in 1993 when the Toronto Blue Jays won baseball’s World Series. Canada, a country of 37 million, had 20 million people watching the telecast of game six. AFP
Lifesavers bounce back in Superliga Games Tomorrow (Imus Sports Center) 4:15 p.m. — Marinerang Pilipina vs Petron 7:00 p.m. — Foton vs Generika-Ayala
SLASHER CUP. Rey Canedo (center) and Jun Verano (fifth from left) hoist their silver-plated trophy, along with the newly crowned Binibining Pilipinas queens during the World Slasher Cup awarding ceremony. Paul Gelario
Height is good, but team play is better THE Philippine Youth team may go down in history as the tallest Filipino junior squad ever assembled, but people behind the Gilas Pilipinas U19 team was quick to temper expectations about its coming campaign in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece. Team manager Andrew Teh did stress height will be among the team’s major edge heading to the June 29 to July 7 meet as it parades a slew of tall players led by 7’2” Kai Sotto, a pair of 6’10”s in AJ Edu and Shaun Geoffrey Chiu, and 6’8” Carl Tamayo. But as Teh reasoned out, sometimes basketball is not all about height. “Dito sa Pilipinas, height ‘yung kulang sa atin lagi. But this time, we really have some height. But again, it’s not
only height that can win you games. It’s the team play,” said Teh in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel-Manila. “So it’s not just about the height, although with height you have a good advantage (against the other). We just have to use that as a tool for us to become a better team. Chemistry, according to Edu, is also one of the factors the young Philippine team is banking on, the main core of this group having played together as a unit during last year’s FIBA U18 Asian Championship in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The Filipinos, then handled by Josh Reyes, placed fourth in the Asian meet to qualify to the World Cup. Reyes has since been replaced by Sandy Arespacochaga. “I’m really liking the chemistry. Ob-
viously I thought after a year we’ve improved, all of us,” said Edu, who was with Teh in the forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. “I feel like skills’ wise, we’ve improved. And I feel like the chemistry is already there from last year, so we can only get better (from last year),” added the Cypriot-born Filipino, who just finished his freshman year at the University of Toledo in the U.S. NCAA. The Youth squad will see action in two tune-up games against University of the East and Far Eastern University before leaving for Doha, Qatar on Friday as it will set up training camp and play two matches against pro club Al Rayyan Club.
GENERIKA-AYALA vented its ire on Marinerang Pilipinas following a 2518, 25-15, 25-23 win in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference yesterday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. After getting blown out by F2 Logistics, 12-25, 21-25, 17-25, in the opener last Saturday, the Lifesavers bounced back to barge into the win column, sending the Lady Skippers to their second straight loss in one hour and 23 minutes. Patty Orendain, who struggled during the opener, put up an all-around performance for Generika-Ayala with 18 points off 15 attacks, a pair of aces and a block and had 16 digs and eight excellent receptions. Ria Meneses and Fiola Ceballos had 11 points each, while Angeli Araneta added eight markers for the Lifesavers, who also drew an impressive performance from setter Jamie Lavitoria and Kath Arado. “This is win is a huge help for us, especially the morale of the team, as the league just started,” said Generika-Ayala head coach Sherwin Meneses, who chalked up his first win in this prestigious women’s club tourney bankrolled by SOGO, Eurotel, PCSO, Cocolife, UCPB Gen, Mueller, Senoh, Asics, Bizooku and One Sport.
All set for Resorts World’s Run With Me X NOW on its fourth year, Resorts World Manila’s award-winning annual celebrity-led fun run for charity Run With Me is about to become bigger and better as it opens registration for the Aug. 25 event at the SM MOA concert grounds. Coinciding with celebrations of the integrated resort’s first decade in the industry, this year’s Run With Me X will again open four race categories at 32K, 21K, 10K, and 5K distances, with organizers expecting over 8,000 runners to participate. Registration period is open until Aug. 10, with corresponding rates at P1,600 for 32K; P1,400 for 21K; P1,200 for 10K; and P1,000 for 5K. All race kits will include singlet, race bib, timing chip, and hydration bottles. Race kits will also include finisher shirts and RWM commemorative finisher’s medals for
21K and 32K runners. The 10K runners will likewise get an RWM commemorative finisher’s medal. Five charity beneficiaries will share portions of the proceeds from the five celebrity-led teams. Last year, the charity event raised P3.5 million for YESPinoy Foundation, HERO Foundation, Right Start Community Development, Inc., Empowering Brilliant Minds Foundation, ERDA Tech Foundation, and EPCALM Adult Leukemia Foundation. Over 5,000 runners showed up for the 2018 race. “We’re very thankful to RWM because it is really a big help for the orphans’ education,” said General Victor Bayani, Executive Director of HERO Foundation of last year’s run. “We were able to increase the stipends we provide for the elementary and high school students,” he added.
Participants of last year’s Run With Me answer the starting gun.
PSC holds cluster meetings with NSAs
PAYMAYA BACKS MAROONS. PayMaya Philippines, the country’s leading digital payments company, regaled the UP Fighting Maroons with a vigorous and enthusiastic welcome at its office at Launchpad Building in Mandaluyong complete with drums, yells and cheering paraphernalia as it formally sealed its support of the University of the Philippines Men’s Basketball Team in the coming Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines on Thursday. Led by its Founder-CEO, Orlando B. Vea, a UP alumnus, Pay Maya signed the Memorandum of Agreement with nowheretogobutUP Foundation, a volunteer group assisting the advancement of UP’s varsity programs. Present in the event were UP President Danilo Concepcion, UP College of Human Kinetics Dean Francis Diaz, NTGBUP Chairman and UPMBT Team Manager Atty. Agaton Uvero, Maroons coaching staff, and the whole Fighting Maroons squad.
TEAM Philippines reinforced its commitment to bring the delegation straight to the top of the 30th Southeast Asian Games with its continuous cooperation with Chef de Mission and Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez’ initiatives for the delegation. Eleven sports associations were consulted this morning as Ramirez’s secretariat continue to establish the status of the different sports’ status of preparation for the biennial meet. The meeting is first of a series of in-depth consultations, headed by a PSC Commissioner per cluster. This morning’s cluster was presided by Comm. Ramon Fernandez. The other clusters are scheduled to meet the whole day of Thursday.
“We have to cover a lot of ground and we are heartened by the cooperation of everyone,” said Ramirez referring to the lively and honest exchange of ideas among the national sports association representatives. NSAs of boxing, pencak silat, wrestling, skateboarding, sambo, muaythai, wushu, judo, karatedo and arnis were all represented. Only three groups were unable to join the session. “Just be open and let us know what you need,” was Fernandez’ advise to the group when they started the meeting, following Ramirez’ pronouncements that the agency will support their requirements as much as the PSC can. A general consensus was the importance that foreign training plays in the overall success of their teams.
PSC Commissioners have thrown their support behind their Chairman as soon as he accepted the CDM position last May. With the Philippine Olympic Committee still unable to name Ramirez’s Deputy Chef de Mission, PSC Commissioners Arnold Agustin, Celia Kiram, Charles Maxey and Fernandez have stepped up their engagements with NSAs under their cluster to expedite the CDM’s work for Team Philippines. Monty Mendigoria, president of the Skateboarding and Roller Sports Association of the Philippines expressed his appreciation of the PSC and the delegation secretariat’s efforts citing in his social media post how the coordination efforts speed up movement of their requests.