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Emilio Aguinaldo College Head Coach Gerry Esplana is grinning from ear to ear as his Generals finished strong after the first round of hostilities in the 89th National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors' basketball tournament. The Generals are on a three-game roll and closed out their first-round campaign with an 89-80 win over the cellar-dwelling Mapua Cardinals. "Obviously we ended the first round on a good note. Hopefully, we could carry this momentum in the second round. Third straight win, so magandang motivation ito para sa mga players ko," said Esplana, now on his third year as the top General. EAC is currently tied with the San Sebastian Golden Stags, the Generals' first opponent in the second round on Thursday, at fifth to sixth spots with similar 4-5 cards and both teams are just one game behind No. 4 Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers. "I like our position right now, malaking motivation talaga sa amin ito. Three straight wins papa...

Photo courtesy of Babyruth Villarama-Gutierrez Members of the Philippine under-11 boys’ football team left for the  United Kingdom on Friday night all upbeat—and extremely excited— about their three-week education and sports training program. The 22 members of the squad are the products of the Philippine  Football Federation’s (PFF) nationwide search under the Kasibulan  Grassroots Development Program in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and Tarlac. For 10-year-old striker Shane Clemente and fifth-grader Vin Joel de  la Cruz, just getting the chance to ride an airplane is already a dream  come true for them. “Excited na excited na po ako pumunta. Dati nagcheer  lang ako sa mga football games, ngayon ako na ang naglalaro,”  said Clemente, who was introduced to football by his older brother  Jerome at the Kaya FC Academy. The Acacia Elementary School Grade 5 student—one of the youngest  members of the Kaholeros, the Azkals’ cheering squad—...

Manny Pacquiao’s hopes of a fifth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez were slammed shut by his Mexican nemesis after the four-division world champion said he has no more intention of facing the Filipino boxing icon even if there’s big money on the line. Marquez, in an interview by Scott Christ of BadLeftHook.com, said he won’t take the bait being thrown by Top Rank Big Boss Bob Arum. He will face fellow Pacquiao conqueror Timothy Bradley on October 12 instead. Pacquiao, on the other hand, will take on Brandon Rios on November 23. The 40-year-old Marquez (55-6-1 with 40 knockouts) added that he wants to preserve the memory of his knockout win over Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KOs ) in their fourth meeting last December. "I'd rather stay with the memory of that 'lucky punch' that I connected on Pacquiao. It's about pride and honor, not money,” said Marquez. “That's why in that contest there was no championship at stake, only the WBO's Champion of The ...

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) board allowed banned University of the Philippines-Integrated School (UPIS) cager Joshua General to continue playing for the Junior Maroons in the second round of the 76th season. This came after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC-RTC) issued on Friday a temporary restraining order filed by General’s parents. UAAP Board Secretary-Treasurer Malou Isip of season host Adamson University said, in a statement issued Saturday, that they will abide by the QC-RTC’s decision. "The UAAP Board will honor the TRO and will allow Joshua General to play in UPIS’s games covered by the 20 days," said Isip. She added that General’s case will be discussed when the UAAP Board meets on Thursday. It is not yet known whether the UAAP Board will reinstate UP’s 89-87 quadruple overtime win over Adamson in the first round. The Board, however, nullified the win after declaring General ineligible to play for UP this season w...

Beach volleyball will make its debut in the 2013 Batang Pinoy finals, which Zamboanga City will be hosting at the Joaquin F. Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex from December 3 to 7. The Batang Pinoy Secretariat decided to scrap the qualifying legs in beach volleyball and instead opened the tournament to all interested teams. Games Secretariat chairperson Atty. Jay Alano said most of the regions don't have beaches where athletes could train that's why the tournament will not go through a qualifying stage. Eric Lecain, the Philippine Volleyball Federation's project coordinator, will help the Batang Pinoy Secretariat in the organization and technical side of the games. Davao Del Norte, which plans to bid to bring the 2015 Palarong Pambansa to the province, will host the Batang Pinoy's opening leg at the P300-million Tagum Multi-Purpose Sports Complex from August 27 to 31. The annual tournament, which aims to find new talent from students and out-of-school youth und...

Strengthening the country's national training pool is one of the goals of the Milo Little Olympics, which kicks off its inaugural leg in Cebu City. Milo Sports Executive Robbie De Vera said they want the three-leg Little Olympics to be another venue where young athletes, who dream of becoming national team members, can compete at a higher level. "We want to maintain a high level of competition just like in the Batang Pinoy, Palarong Pambansa, and the [Private Schools Athletic Association] that is why we want to continuously improve the program," said De Vera. De Vera added that the Little Olympics is a testing ground for some athletes that joined Milo's various summer sports clinics. He added that helping find a future Olympic gold medalist is another goal of the said sports program that is why 10 of the 13  events are being played in the quadrennial event. "Only chess, scrabble, and sepak takraw are the non-Olympic events. We want to also develop the m...

The Wrestling Association of the Philippines' (WAP) plan of promoting wrestling to various schools gained ground after the Department of Education (DepEd) decided to include the oldest Olympic event among the 21 sports that will be played in the 2014 Palaraong Pambansa. President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act 10588 or an act institutionalizing the conduct of the Palarong Pambansa, adding wrestling--as stated in Article VI, Sec. 16 b--to the 20 other sports being played in the annual tournament for high school students. Greco-Roman and freestyle events in eight weight divisions both for boys and girls' will be played in the 2014 edition. Archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, billiards, boxing, chess, football, futsal, gymnastics, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, and wushu are the other sports played in the Palarong Pambansa. WAP president Albert Balde welcomed the news adding that it will help b...