BiFin swimming needs exposure, support

PHILIPPINE Sports Hall-ofFamer and Batangas 1st District Congressman Eric Buhain said the success of the National BiFin swimming team in the recent 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia proved it deserves full support from both the private and public sector to further boosts its development program particularly in the grassroots level.

Competing for the first time in the regional biennial meet, members of the eight-man Espinelli Trading-backed national team all made it to the finals in their respective events, with Palarong Pambansa swimming champion Alexi Cabayaran bagging a silver medal in the 200 women bifin breaststroke, clocking 1 minute and 56.49 seconds behind gold medal winner Cambodian Muyni Kaing (1:51.69).

“Raising awareness through regular activities and to encourage all swimming clubs, groups, and organizers to include bifin in their program of events

No riot for now

THE draw in the second round of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 Asian Qualifiers has been made.

The Filipinas are in Group A with Australia, Chinese Taipei and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Australia will host the second round of qualifiers in Group A. China, Korea Republic (South Korea), Thailand and DPR Korea are in Group B with China as host. Uzbekistan will host Group C which also includes Japan, Vietnam and India.

The Philippines blitzed its way during the first round, notching impressive wins over Hong Kong, 4-0; Pakistan, 4-0; and Tajikistan, 8-0. The second round will be a different story now that the Filipinas have could be a big help for the sports to grow. Maganda ang future natin sa bifin and the recent campaign of our team in Cambodia proved that. Kahit maiksi lang ang naging preparation may contribution sila sa delegation,” said the twotime Olympian and currently president of the Congress of Philippine Aquatics, to hurdle bigger and stronger teams. Chinese Taipei topped Group F while Iran won Group B during the opening round. Host Australia is among the top 5 seeded teams in the qualifiers.

Despite failing to advance from the group stage in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, the Filipinas are expected to put the result behind them and prepare for Australia, Chinese Taipei and Iran. Lessons were definitely learned in Phnom Penh and Coach Alen Stajcic will make the necessary adjustments as the Filipinas embark on the next tournament.

Four teams, the group winners and the best second placer, will advance to the third round. These teams will play in a pair of home and away matches with the winners advancing to the tournament proper of the Paris Olympic Games next year.

Speaking of the Filipinas, their kits for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup this year were unveiled recently.

The kits, sponsored by adidas, were met with mixed reactions and reviews. Some were positive and there were not so nice comments, too. I believe, however, that no matter what kind of kits our national team wears in the World Cup, it is not that im-

Inc. in an interview after meeting the nationals at the Philippine Sports Commission upon their arrival from Cambodia Monday morning.

“Itong pagkapanalo ni Alexi (Cabayaran) ng silver medal ay malaking bagay sa sports. Hopefully, ma-encourage niya ang iba pa na subukan ang bifin swimming. Like classical, maraming medals at stake dito. Isipin natin sa Cambodia portant. What matters most is the player who wears the country’s flag and colors. I hope that when the team plays in New Zealand, the Filipinas will give their minds and hearts out for the county.

27 ‘yung events, at kung nakapaghanda na tayo ng matagal, mas marami tayong naipadalang athletes, baka mas maraming medalya tayong naiuwi,” added Buhain.

The 15-year-old Alexi from Silay City in Negros Occidental is one of the hundreds of young swimmers who participated in the Visayas tryouts organized by COPA last February in Bacolod City. Through a memorandum of agreement with the Fin Swimming Federation, COPA was tasked to conduct a national tryout, form and train the team for the SEAG.

Bonus na lang ang uniform.

The Football Association of Thailand has apologized for the ugly and embarrassing conclusion of the men’s football finals of the Cambodia SEA Games. The Thai national team figured in a free-for-all against Indonesia in the battle for gold.

In a statement, the FAT vowed to investigate what really happened and who was responsible for the incident. It also vowed heavy punishment to those who caused the unruly incident that put Thailand in a very bad light.

For context, Indonesia beat Thailand, 5-2, in the finals, which was marred by a fight between the two teams. The brawl erupted after Indonesia went up 3-2 in the tightly contested finals. Punches were thrown between the two teams. A total of seven red cards were handed out during the game. A dubious SEA Games record to say the least. Indonesia scored two more goals later in the game to beat Thailand. Fortunately, the county’s basketball

Basketball World Cup will also be shown on tv & social media.

This is the first time in 45 years that the Philippines is hosting the FIBA Basketball World Cup, albeit alongside Japan and Indonesia, and the co-hosts are promising the most memorable world meet yet.

According to Al S. Panlilio, President of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, “The event will be tremendous—the fan experience will be unprecedented, unmatched in its impact and truly memorable for all.”

Filipinos may very well watch the MVP-caliber play of Serbian Nikola Jokic and Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, as well as a bevy of NBA stars by taking advantage of alreadyavailable tickets with the Follow My Team Passes with access to all pre-

HOME OF THE PHILIPPINE MASTERS.

Villamor Airbase Administrator Col. Eric Gatchalian (right) and Colo Ventosa, general manager of the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., sign the Memorandum of Agreement, renewing their partnership to stage the ICTSI Villamor Philippine Masters on May 24 to 27 at its home, the Villamor Golf Club in Pasay City. Also in photo is Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño, Commanding General, Philippine Air Force. ICTSI and the Villamor Golf Club revived the Philippine Masters in 2017 after a 17-year wait with Clyde Mondilla winning it and Jerson Balasabas topping the 2018 PH Masters.

liminary games of your chosen team, the Ultimate Fan & Super Fan passes, which give access to games from the Quarterfinals to the Finals, and the Two-Day Passes, which give fans the chance to watch 4 games on 2 consecutive days.

Single-Day Passes will also be available starting May 25 for basketball fans to get a chance to see their favorite basketball stars up close and personal. Fans can purchase their tickets to the biggest basketball event of the year via philippines.worldcup.basketball.

FIFA World Cup teams to be based in ‘clusters’

LOS ANGELES—Teams at the expanded 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be based in regional clusters during the early rounds to ease travel, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday.

Speaking in Los Angeles to unveil the official logo and branding for the tournament, Infantino said the move was prompted by the scale of the 2026 finals.

For the first time the next World Cup will include 48 teams—up from 32—and will be co-hosted by three countries, another first.

“The challenges will be the whole logistics around it,” Infantino said. “It’s a continent—three countries and not three small countries either—three big countries.

“The distances, the time zones, the climatic differences too—altitude in Mexico, sea level in other parts.

“So for us it’s important to create the right environment for the teams and the fans to be put in the best possible conditions.

fans are not doing any act of violence soon after Gilas Pilipinas regained the basketball gold in the biennial event. Gilas exacted revenge over host Cambodia, 80-69, in the finals to reclaim the basketball throne it lost to Indonesia in the previous SEA Games. Moreover, the team’s victory calmed the nation after it lost to the host in their initial encounter, 79-68.

Justin Brownlee scored 23 to help deliver the most important gold in the country’s campaign in Phnom Penh.

The Philippines finished fifth in the overall standings with 58 gold, 86 silver and 116 bronze medals behind Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and host Cambodia.

A lot was said when the Philippines lost the first game against Cambodia. Things like about how many “imports” the Cambodian team had, that the basketball court has “linoleum,” it was so hot in the venue, and many more. Heck, much more was said even about the timeout made by the Cambodian coach just seconds left in the game with the game’s outcome no longer in doubt, but only a few on why we lost the game.

Now that we have regained the gold, the lingering questions about the basketball program in the country will be on the

“Meaning not having to travel too much, especially at the beginning. So we will create some clusters where teams will be based depending on the draw and then they will play their games in that particular cluster.” Infantino said travel, and the move towards basing teams in regions, had been discussed at a meeting in Doha last week of the 32 coaches involved in last year’s World Cup.

“This was one of the advantages of the World Cup in Qatar, where a player, one hour after the game, was in his bed,” he said.

“(In 2026) there will be some travel involved but we will coordinate that and make sure that it will be the best possible conditions for the teams.”

Infantino meanwhile hopes the tournament can build on the success of the 1994 finals in the United States, which helped establish Major League Soccer in North America. AFP backburner for a while. The usual “angas” is expected to be present kasi nanalo nga. Eh sino ba nagpatalo in Hanoi in the first place? The question is what will happen in the country’s campaign in the FIBA World Cup this year? To use the win against Cambodia as a gauge in our preparation for the biggest basketball tournament in the world is both dangerous and downright misleading. We probably need to temper our expectations, despite all the support and the love of millions of Filipinos to the game and to the team, which can’t be said of other national teams, we need more than “puso”, we need more common sense for starters.

For the meantime, let the basketball gods savor the victory in the SEA Games, hanggang dito na lang yata kasi maghahari ang ‘Pinas, but we must never forget to remind them what needs to be done before another potential failure and tons of rehashed excuses unfold in September.

Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!

For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at erel_cabatbat@yahoo.com or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat

By Nickie Wang

TV5, in collaboration with APT Productions, introduces its latest original show, Emojination. This thrilling game show brings a fresh and unique twist to the genre, captivating game show lovers with its innovative format.

Emojination takes center stage as the first game in three rounds, with two players on each opposing team. In the first round, called “Pic-Per-Word,” contestants are shown four emojis that describe a mystery word and they need to decipher the word to beat their opponents.

For the second round, called “Sabi Swabe,’’ players must identify famous lines or phrases (presented through emojis) to get to the next round.

For the third round where it gets physical, “A Pair to Remember,’’ each team will have a flip board with 20 emoji blocks flipped backward and the players need to run through an obstacle to get to their respective boards and flip the blocks to find the matching pair of emojis.