Sun Life Cycle PH set at Vermosa Hub

OVER a thousand riders of all genders, fitness, and skill levels pound the road today (Sunday, April 23) as the Sun Life Cycle PH gets back to the mainstream at the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub in Imus, Cavite. Held as part of Sun Life’s continuing effort to inspire more Filipinos to pursue a healthy, active lifestyle and at the same time strengthen family bonds, the Cycle PH features the kids (2-3 years old) 100m ride, criterium (30 mins solo ride) and criterium with parents, and the individual 30K, individual 40K and 60K corporate/team ride.

Actors Piolo Pascual and Matteo Guidecelli, two of showbiz’s most active participants in sports, having competed in various IRONMAN races, and fellow Sun Life brand ambassador Donny Pangilinan bring a lot of star power to the event as they blend with beginners and bike enthusiasts at the challenging routes at Vermosa.

A one-stop fitness destination, the sprawling Vermosa complex is equipped with training facilities designed for international sports competitions. It hosted the SEA Games in 2019 and the IronKids last year.

Sun Life Philippines launched the Cycle PH in 2016, instantly drawing a huge field while sustaining its campaign to help Filipinos live healthier lives and achieve lifetime financial security before the Covid-19 pandemic brought all sports activities to an abrupt halt in 2020.

“It goes hand-in-hand,” said Sun Life Chief Client Experience and Marketing Officer Carla Gonzalez-Chong. “Because of this advocacy, Sun Life, a long-time partner of the organizing Sunrise Events, Inc., also went into offering health and insurance products that actually help Filipinos protect their health.”

“We started first by offering health and wellness classes through our community, the Go-Well community. We sponsored fitness clubs, the SunPiology, and started doing signature events, like fun runs, fun races and we sponsored the IRONMAN and endurance runs,” added Gonzalez-Chong.

The Sun Life Cycle PH actually caps a two-week bike festival ushered in by the kids’ bike camp at BGC last week with Pangilinan as its top draw and where Sun Life donated 25 bikes to the Good Neighbors Foundation International.

The host city has also guaranteed Cycle PH’s successful staging with Imus City Mayor Alex Advincula enjoining his constituents to support the event.

“The city will continuously promote this event for the benefit it provides, especially in the physical aspect, including the youngsters,” said Advincula. “When it comes to sports, people need to stay fit –health is wealth, so we really should focus on this.”

“Sobrang happy kasi nine years, ngayon lang ulit kami nakapasok ng Final Four. Hindi kami pwedeng magstop there dahil marami pang games na pwedeng laruin,” said Lady Falcons outside hitter Lucille Almonte, who topscored with

13 kills and collected 20 digs, and 10 receptions.

Trisha Tubu added 11 points, all from attacks, while Lorene Toring also chimed in 11 points including a teamhigh three blocks.

Lady Falcon’s libero Karen Verdeflor also had a field day with 21 digs and 17 excellent receptions as they received 33 free points off UP’s errors.

Niña Ytang and Jewel Encarnacion made 15 points apiece with the former notching four blocks while the latter tallied 10 digs to her name.

Bustrillo also had 14 points for the Fighting Maroons, who suffered their ninth straight defeat at 1-11. UP will be back on Wednesday against the winless University of the East, while Adamson will cap the eliminations on April 30 against Far Eastern University, both at Filoil EcoOil Centre.

FIBA World Cup 2023 Draw principles explained

What are the Draw Seedings? The 32 teams have been placed into 8 pots, each containing four nations. The Philippines, as host of the Group and Final Phase, is placed in pot 1. All other teams are placed in their respective pot based on their position in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike:

Seed 1 - Philippines, Spain, USA, Australia

Seed 2 - France, Serbia, Slovenia, Lithua

Seed 3 - Greece, Italy, Germany, Brazil

Seed 4 - Canada, Venezuela, Mon-

And this brought the team, and him a great championship experience. “Ginebra hadn’t lost two in a row this conference, much less lose three in a row. So that’s what we talked about before the game. That was my pregame talk. But if there’s somebody who can beat them, it’s the team that I’m with right now. And again, it’s not an easy task. A lot of teams tried to beat Tim (Cone) and (Justin) Brownlee at this stage, and they never did. I knew that we had to come up with a better game plan or at least a better game to dethrone them,” added Lastimosa.

NU inches closer to back-to-back tennis plum

DEFENDING champion National University moved closer to securing back-to-back UAAP Women’s Tennis titles after defeating first-time finalist the University of the Philippines, 3-1, in Tie 1 of the best-of-three series held on Saturday at the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Center in Malate, Manila.

The Lady Bulldogs will attempt to win their sixth overall title in the sport and go for all the marbles in the second Finals tie scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Dana Abad, who has been consistent for the titleholders, was the hero once again, securing the tie-clinching win against Renee Esteban, 6-3, 6-2, in the third singles match.

“Very tight talaga ‘yung mga laban. Doon pa lang sa first singles at sa first doubles, talagang ginapang. Ang maganda, kinapitan lang ng girls yung panalo,” commented Lady Bulldogs coach Ronald Joven.

“Dapat ituloy lang nila ‘yung laro nila para manalo ulit bukas,” he added.

Elizabeth Abarquez set the tone for NU by defeating Fighting Maroons’ Rachel Velez in the second-set tiebreak. Abarquez eventually consolidated her dominant first-set win to take the first singles match, 6-1, 7-6.

Seniors Allyssa Bornia and Alliah Ragunton had to fend off the surprise pairing of Sydney Enriquez and Jesha Cervantes in the first doubles match in the first set at 7-5 before settling their nerves and taking the huge 2-0 advantage in the tie at 6-3 for NU.

Triple National Intercollegiate champion Joshea Malazarte pulled one back for the Fighting Maroons tenegro, Puerto Rico

THE FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw, presented by Wanda, will take place on April 29 in Manila, Philippines, and will be carried out according to specific draw principles.

Scheduled at 7:30 PM at the Araneta Coliseum, the draw for the flagship event will see the 32 participating nations finding out how exciting their path is going to be.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw Principles will be based on the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, and on geographical principles. The Philippines and Japan, as host nations, will play at home in one of the groups hosted in their country.

The three hosts of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 have selected a preferred team based on commercial reasons. USA will play in the Philippines; Slovenia will travel to Japan and Canada will land in Indonesia.

Seed 5 - Iran, Dominican Re- public, Finland, New Zealand

Seed 6 - China, Latvia,

Mexico, Georgia

Seed 7 - Jordan, Japan, -

Angola, Cote d’Ivo ire after NU’s JM Carcueva had to retire in the third set due to cramps with the set tied at two games apiece. Carcueva won the first set in a tiebreak, but Malazarte fought hard to win the second at 7-5. non, Egypt, South

Seed 8 - LebaSudan, Cape

Sudan, Cape Verde