Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain. Larry Bird. That’s the full list of those who managed to win three consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player awards. Nobody has pulled off that feat in 40 years, and the star power not on that list — names like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — speaks to how

Filipino boxers Miel Fajardo and Zyvyr “Blitz Kid” Medecilo will get their shots at world championship glory when they challenge two Japanese champions on November 26 at the Ebara Wave Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

MANILA, Philippines — Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala opened her 2026 Ningbo Open campaign on a strong note after defeating Diane Parry of France, 6-3, 6-1, on Monday night (Manila time) to advance in the Round of 16 at the Ningbo Yinzhou Tennis Center The 20-year-old Eala, currently ranked No. 18, defeated World No. 34 Parry in the tournament. The Filipina swept the French after relying more on her strong backhand swings and smart placement shots. Eala will next face Russian Diana Shnaider in the Round of 16, who is seeded No. 16 in the tournament. This win serves as a redemption for the Filipina after suffering her worst loss in the Wuhan Open, when she fell to World No. 217 Shi Han of China last October 12.

Rising Chinese basketball star Barry Wang Junjie was tipped to be an NBA prospect after he flourished in only his second game with his new team, the Massachusetts Minutemen, on Sunday. Wang erupted for 31 points on eight-of-12 shooting, including knocking down a pair of three-pointers and converting 12 of his 13 free throws, to go with six rebounds as the University of Massachusetts beat Brown University 88-86 in a tight exhibition game. The Massachusetts Minutemen represent the university in...

Alexandra Eala defeated France"s Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-1, on Monday to advance to the second round of the Ningbo Open in China.

Reigning world badminton champion An Se-young won the Denmark Open for her ninth international title of the season. An, world No. 1, defeated third-ranked Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (21-23, 21-14, 21-18) for her second consecutive Denmark Open title at SJF Bank Arena in Odense, Denmark, on Sunday. An extended her winning streak against Yamaguchi to 10, while pushing her record to 61-1 in 62 matches this year. In addition to her six victories on the Badminton World Federation World Tour, the Asian Championships gold medal in April and the world title in August, An also won the Asian Games gold medal last month over Yamaguchi, becoming the first player to win back-to-back women's singles gold medals. An's only loss of the year came in the final of the All England Open in March. Against Yamaguchi on Sunday, An trailed 6-4 in the opening game before scoring the next six points. But the Japanese veteran fought back to make it an 18-18 tie, and ended up taking the game 23-21 on An's unforced error for the final point. Yamaguchi led 13-11 in the second game but An battled back with seven straight points

With her latest victory in Denmark over the weekend, Korean badminton star An Se-young set the record for the most international titles in the women's singles, the sport's international governing body said Monday. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on its social media that An's title at the Denmark Open on Sunday was her 47th international championship, one more than the former Indonesian star Susi Susanti. The BWF noted that titles in regional games are excluded and these records have been kept since 1989. An has been the world No. 1 for 105 consecutive weeks. She won a single-season record 11 titles in 2025 and is closing in on that mark this year with nine victories under her belt. In the Denmark Open final, An defeated Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 2-1 (21-23, 21-14, 21-18) despite trailing in every game and dealing with an apparent right ankle injury. Not counting team competitions, An has collected six titles on the BWF World Tour and also won gold medals at the Asian Championships, the BWF World Championships and the Asian Games in 2026. An has lost just one match all season

Son Ah-seop, third on the career hits list in Korean baseball, was released by his club Monday. The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Son was among 11 players that they had chosen not to bring back next season. The 38-year-old outfielder has now reached the crossroads after spending 20 seasons in the KBO, during which he has collected 2,655 hits. Son currently sits behind Choi Hyoung-woo of the Samsung Lions, who has 2,734 hits, and Kim Hyun-soo of the KT Wiz, who owns 2,691 hits, on the all-time list. Former LG Twins player Park Yong-taik previously owned the hits record with 2,504, and Son became the first player to surpass that mark in June 2024. Son remained the career leader in hits entering this season, but Choi passed him in May and Kim did the same in August. While Choi and Kim have remained productive in their early 40s and late 30s, respectively, Son has been on the downslope for the past couple of years after winning his first batting title in 2023. Son played for the Lotte Giants from 2007 to 2021, and then joined the NC Dinos as a free agent before

Doosan Bears starter Gwak Been, who led the Korean baseball league in ERA and strikeouts this year, was named the recipient of the country's top pitching award Monday. Gwak was chosen as the winner of the 2026 Choi Dong-won Award. Named after the late former pitcher in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the award has been recognizing the top hurler in the KBO since 2014. The award selection committee said Gwak received first-place votes from six of its seven members. Gwak went 11-7 in 27 starts, covering 161 innings, and topped the KBO with a 2.24 ERA and 197 strikeouts. He was the only starter this season to post an ERA of under 3.00. Gwak also pitched Korea to the gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September, allowing just one run in 12 1/3 innings and striking out 19 in his two starts, including one against Japan in the gold medal game. Candidates for the award must meet the following criteria: at least 25 starts, 180 innings pitched, 12 wins, 150 strikeouts, 15 quality starts, a sub-3.00 ERA and 35 saves for relievers. Although Gwak fell short of thresholds in the wins a

Athletes are often willing to play through all sorts of pain in important games, be it a creaky back or wonky knees. Kia Tigers outfielder Park Jung-woo, though, is dealing with an unusual type of pain with his team in the thick of the Korean baseball postseason — with his wisdom tooth on the right side. "I wanted to get rid of it right away but apparently, it is not a simple procedure," Park told reporters before the Tigers hosted the LG Twins in Game 2 of their best-of-five series in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. "So I have decided to take it out after the end of our postseason." Park missed the first game of this series Saturday because he was under the weather. A flu bug went around the Tigers clubhouse and several players dealt with high fever in the days leading up to the postseason series. Park said his fever might have made his wisdom tooth pain even worse, and he had difficulty eating food. With the Tigers leading the Twins 2-0 in the series and needing just one more win to advance to the next round, Park's team appears to be several days away from the end o

The Korean baseball regular-season champions KT Wiz rewarded their manager, Lee Kang-chul, with a record contract Monday. The Wiz said they signed Lee to a new three-year deal worth 3.4 billion won ($2.6 million), making him the highest-paid manager in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history. Lee will make 800 million won in annual salary and received a signing bonus of 1 billion won. Lee's deal surpasses the three-year, 3 billion-won contract signed by the LG Twins skipper Youm Kyoung-youb last November. Lee's previous three-year contract, which paid him 2.4 billion won, was set to expire after this season. Lee has been at the Wiz's helm since 2019. He led the Wiz to their first postseason in 2020 and then to their first-ever Korean Series title in 2021. This year, the Wiz won a franchise-record 90 games to finish first in the regular season and advance directly to the Korean Series, which will begin Nov. 2. The Wiz made the postseason in six of Lee's eight seasons in charge. The 60-year-old has recorded 618 wins, 501 losses and 29 ties in 1,148 regular-season games with the Wiz. Lee tha

Mapua University completed a sweep of the NCAA Season 102 crossover phase after routing San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 71-43, on Monday at the Filoil Centre in San Juan.

Ben Simmons tore his right Achilles tendon in practice on Sunday, ending his comeback attempt this season with the Sacramento Kings before the season even started. The Kings said Simmons hurt himself during a live drill and will need to undergo surgery three days before the season opener on Wednesday night on the road against

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry limped off the court after tweaking his right ankle in a noncontact play during an open practice for fans Sunday. “He said he’s fine,” coach Steve Kerr said after the event at Chase Center. The Warriors open the season Wednesday on the road against the Los

The Philippine para swimming team added another medal to the country"s haul at the 2026 Asian Para Games as Raemond Adefuin captured bronze in the men"s 100-meter breaststroke on Monday in Japan.

PARIS — Elina Svitolina announced on Monday she is divorcing fellow tennis star Gael Monfils after five years of marriage. Ukraine's Svitolina, the world number six, married French player Monfils in July 2021 and they have a four-year-old daughter together. "I need to find my way back to myself and I cannot do that within our marriage," the 32-year-old Svitolina said in a social media post. "It is the hardest truth I have ever had to face and the hardest thing I have ever had to tell the person I love." Monfils, 40, retired from tennis earlier this month, despite having been expected to make farewell appearances in Lyon and at the Paris Masters later this month. He had been given a wildcard for this week's ATP 250 tournament in Lyon, but organizers said he had withdrawn for personal reasons.

Maja Chwalinska battled from a set and a break down to capture her first WTA Tour title at the Wuhan Open on Sunday in China.

Alexandra Eala is set to begin her campaign at the Ningbo Open against France"s Diane Parry in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament.

San Beda University survived a late rally by Emilio Aguinaldo College, 89-86, to bounce back in NCAA Season 102 on Monday at the Filoil Centre in San Juan.

MANILA, Philippines — San Beda University survived a late fourth-quarter rally pulled by Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), 89-86, to end the crossover round with a victory in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament on Monday afternoon at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City. The EAC Generals pulled a late 12-0 rally in the fourth quarter to take the lead and erase the nine-point lead of the San Bed Red Lions, 86-85, courtesy of EJ Castillo and Jude Bagay putting up the fight with one minute and 16 seconds remaining. However, Castillo committed an unsportsmanlike foul on RC Calimag, who took advantage of the opportunity and scored both of his free throws, 87-86. With four seconds remaining, Calimag made a trip to the charity stripe once more, sinking both of his free throws to give San Beda a three-point lead, 89-86. MJ Raymundo missed the game-tying shot that allowed San Beda to stretch its win streak over EAC to 28 games. The last time EAC won over San Beda was on Sept. 17, 2024. “We know EAC is going to go hard on the basket; that is something that we knew before heading to this game. But it’s different when you’re inside. We just need to toughen up. I know we were too soft in that fourth quarter when we were up,” head coach Yuri Escueta told the media after the game. The Red Lions ended the second round with a 6-3 win-loss record in Group A, while EAC fell to 3-6 in Group B. San Beda relied on Aldous Torculas, who made 19 points and seven rebounds, along with four assists. John Bonzalida added 12 points, while Jimuel Reyes and RC Calming made 11 points identically. EAC was led by Castillo’s 19 points and three assists.

NCAA Season 102 Men’s Basketball Tournament   San Beda def. EAC  Aldous Torculas Player of the Game #NCAASeason102

Ernie Gawilan defended his Asian Para Games gold after ruling the men"s 400m freestyle S7 event on Monday in Japan.

Lê Văn Công secures a silver medal from the fifth Asian Para Games 2026 after he finishes second in the men's 49kg category of powerlifting event on October 19 in Nagoya, Japan.

Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain. Larry Bird. That's the full list of those who managed to win three consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player awards. Nobody has pulled off that feat in 40 years, and the star power not on that list — names like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — speaks to how difficult it is to accomplish. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder has a chance to get there this season, whether he wants to or not. His focus — as it has been in past years as well — is on winning and on championships, not on anything of the individual variety. “I’ve just got to be the best player I can be for this basketball team, win as many games as possible," Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That kind of recipe for me in the past has kind of worked, and I’ve been fortunate to win two in a row. No different for me going into this season.” He is the best player on the team that is essentially the co-favorite, along with the San Antonio Spurs, to win the NBA championship. He's collected more than 75% of the first-place MVP votes over the last two seasons, and his scoring average of 32 points per game is tops in the NBA over that span. He doesn't think he's been at his peak yet, either. “I feel like I’m a better basketball player, more versatile as a basketball player,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “In better shape, too.” Thunder general manager Sam Presti has been around Hall of Fame players. He sees the traits in Gilgeous-Alexander, saying in his preseason news conference last month that greats at that level have “something that separates them from the others that makes them uniquely different.” “He has the baseline stuff of his work ethic, his discipline, his character, things that you have to have to be a consistent elite performer in the NBA or anywhere,” Presti said. “But his emotional awareness and regulation is superior, in my opinion. It’s extraordinary. His view is layered. He doesn’t live in a pass-fail world, and I think that’s part of what’s allowed him to come kind of from the back of the pack as a lightly recruited college player to this ascent.” The game has changed, and Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the players who has changed it. International players have won the last eight MVP awards; if the annual polling of the league's general managers proves accurate, that run will go to nine this season — since the Spurs' Victor Wembanyama is their preseason pick to emerge as the trophy winner next spring. And with Joel Embiid — the No. 3 pick in 2014 and MVP in 2022-23 — being the exception, many of those eventual international-born MVPs weren't exactly expected by many to reach that level when they entered the league. Giannis Antetokounmpo, then of Milwaukee and now of Miami, was the 15th overall pick in the 2013 draft; he won two MVPs in this international run. Denver's Nikola Jokic was drafted No. 41 overall; he's a three-time MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted 11th; he's now gone back-to-back. “He’s still going,” Presti said. “He’s got a lot more levels to go, and his mindset, I think, is the No. 1 thing that drives all that.” Winning brings individual success as well, and Gilgeous-Alexander knows that. But he often reminds people that things like MVP seasons come because so many people — not just the actual trophy winner — did their part. If the Thunder are contenders again, he'll likely be a top candidate. The best player on the best teams tends to be right in the MVP mix. And if he wins it again, it'll be costly: Gilgeous-Alexander has showered teammates with thank-you gifts after his first two MVP seasons, including fancy watches, Burberry coats and much more. Leadership, to Gilgeous-Alexander, is far more important than trophies. “It’s something that I’ve been intentional with, but also just I think naturally it’s just grown because I’ve grown as a man,” he said. “Becoming a father has helped with that. You’re an example for somebody every day and it’s a little bit different in the real world, but it’s essentially the same thing. You lead by example — and it’s hard to get people to follow you if you don’t do the right things and you don’t walk the walk.”

University of Santo Tomas standouts Mark Llemit and Karylle Sierba powered their respective squads to perfect weeks in the UAAP Season 89 collegiate basketball tournaments, earning Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Players of the Week honors for October 14 to 18, 2026.

Find out who’s in KentOnline’s team of the week and vote for your star man.

MANILA, Philippines — Veteran swimmer Ernie Gawilan made a huge splash and a strong start for the Philippines, delivering the first medal and first gold in the 2026 Asian Para Games. Gawilan ruled the men’s 400-meter (m) freestyle event, clocking 4:56.72 in the S7 category. China's Zhang Ying placed second after clocking in 5:01.36 seconds, while Singapore’s Toh Wei Soong finished in 5:24.23 for the bronze medal. Gawilan is a 35-year-old swimmer and has won multiple gold medals in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games. He was also a multi-medalist in the ASEAN Para Games, and he shattered the 18-year-old record in the men's 200m freestyle S7 with a time of 2:26.08

Far Eastern University"s Mo Konateh leads the statistical points race in UAAP Season 89 at the end of the first round of the men"s basketball tournament, while National University"s Reinhard Jumamoy leads the local players in contention for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

The first round of the UAAP Season 89 men"s basketball tournament wrapped up on Sunday, with National University and Adamson University claiming victories at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym.

The Cebuana Lhuillier Gems are making a strong push for the PickleYard Conference League (PYCL) Season 2 title after securing the No. 1 overall pick, Filipino-Australian standout Crystal Mildwaters, and pulling off a stunning late second round steal by drafting another Australian national champion Aaron Johnson. Mildwaters and Johnson are teammates in Australia and won national titles, giving the Gems a formidable duo with proven chemistry and championship experience. “We are proud of the team we have assembled for Season 2 of the PYCL. Securing top talents like Crystal Mildwaters and Aaron Johnson, alongside a strong supporting cast of experienced and accomplished players, gives us great reason to be optimistic. At Cebuana Lhuillier, we believe in the power of sports to develop not only athletic talent but also discipline, teamwork, and character. compete, and excel,” said Cebuana Lhuillier president and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier. Team manager Richard Villaseran is equally confident in the team's potential, particularly with the addition of the two Australian-based champions. “Crystal is easily the most important player in the league, with only three foreign female players available. But Aaron is the steal of the draft. I'm still shocked we got him at the end of the second round—he was definitely a first-rounder. I'm confident in this team because our players complement each other's strengths,” Villaseran said. Supporting the dynamic duo is a deep lineup featuring Grace Woo, a consistent podium finisher over the past five months who has won multiple gold medals in local competitions and the women's doubles title at last month's PPA Asia 1000 in Kuala Lumpur. The roster is further strengthened by Hakim Boloto, Kristopher Tesorio, Bernard Sanchez, and Shyrynn Salazar, a 2026 Asian Games Soft Tennis bronze medalist. The team is being coached by Kristian Tesorio. With a blend of championship pedigree, veteran experience, and complementary playing styles, the Gems are poised to make a serious run for the PYCL Season 2 crown.