SURE REFS,

and Team Philippines.

Jordan Clarkson, who will play for the Philippines, and Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncik who suits up with Slovenia, are some of the biggest NBA stars seeing action in the coming FIBA World Cup. Photo from SBP and FIBA their clash with Montenegro, which has Nikola Vucevic, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, along with a former Bull cager Marko Simonovic.

Another NBA star Luka Doncik of the Dallas Mavericks will strut his stu for Slovenia that will play in Group F in Okinawa, Japan and face Cape Verde, Georgia, and Venezuela. If it advances to the second round, Slovenia will meet teams from Group E consisting of Germany, Australia, Finland, and host Japan. Slovenia and Doncik will y to the Philippines if they make it to the semi nals and onwards.

Officials Are Ready

FIBA Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Sports & Competition Head Eric Altamirano.

FIBA Head of Refereeing Carl Jungerbrand and Refereeing Consultant Tomas Rimkus will join Altamirano in leading several seminars, drills, and practice games that aim to ready game o cials both physically and mentally for the three-week long tournament featuring 32 teams.

After the four-day clinic, 11 referees will be assigned to each of the four venues: the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City/Philippine Arena in Bulacan (only for Opening Day), the SM Mall of

Asia Arena in Pasay, the Okinawa Arena in Japan, and the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta.

“I, along with the rest of the FIBA LOC, am looking forward to how our well-trained referees will help the FIBA World Cup 2023 go down in history as a record-breaking event,” said Altamirano.

Fans can be rst-hand witnesses to the readiness of referees in the FIBA World Cup 2023 by availing of tickets for Smart Araneta Coliseum games at ticketnet.com.ph, as well as for SM Mall of Asia Arena games at smtickets.com.

The deadline for submissions is on Sept. 22, while the raffle draw will be on September 29, 2023.

Depending on the number of participants, a higher number of total cash prizes and winners will be announced by September 30, 2023. If less than 15,000 players join the giveaway, 100 winners will be randomly chosen and awarded P1,000 each.

If at least 15,000 people join the giveaway, the total number of winners will be increased to 250 and awarded P1,500 each. Finally, if over 50,000 people join, the total number of winners will be further increased to 500 and awarded P2,000 each.

PROJECT XENO’s giveaway will run from Aug. 15 to Sept. 22. For more information on PROJECT XENO, visit project-xeno.com or follow @PROJECTXENO_GLB on Twitter for up-to-date information and updates.

LOMAN NEARS TITLE SHOT, TESTS METTLE OF LINEKER

STEPHEN “The Sniper” Loman gets a monumental chance to prove that he’s ready for primetime as he takes on former ONE Bantamweight World Champion John “Hands of Stone” Lineker at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on September 30 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Still waiting for his long-awaited shot at the reigning ONE Bantamweight World Champion Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade, the no. 2-ranked bantamweight contender turns his attention to the man that got dethroned for the crown.

Loman certainly deserves his chances as evidenced by the victims that he has laid waste since arriving at The Home of Martial Arts.

Not only has the Team Lakay rising star gone unbeaten in his last three fights, he also turned heads when he manhandled former ONE Bantamweight

World Champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes to score the unanimous decision victory at ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs. Lee in November last year.

It was a revelation of a triumph for The Sniper, barging into the conversation of those next in line for the throne.

This match, though, is just as important.

“Itinuturing ko rin ito na isa sa biggest ghts ko sa career ko,” he said.

But Lineker is just as hungry, motivated to get back the belt he lost, and displayed that grit with his heavy hands that enabled him to knock out “The Fighting God” Kim Jae Woong with four seconds to spare in their clash at ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian last August.

Loman is well aware of that strength but argued that he, too, can pack a punch.

“Malakas talaga ang suntok niya at marami na siyang na-knockout, pero tingin ko malakas din ang suntok ko at pag maka-connect, sigurado akong makaka-knockout din ako,” he said.

Surely, to the victor goes the spoils and Andrade has his eyes closely monitoring the developments from this duel.

This joins another stacked card which will be headlined by two of the world’s greatest female athletes when Stamp Fairtex attempts to become an unprecedented three-sport world champion when she challenges for the Interim ONE Atomweight World Championship against Ham “Hamzzang” Seo Hee.

Also on the card is Loman’s former teammate in two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang who takes on Amir Khan in a rematch of their 2018 World Title clash.