FOLLOWING their successful campaign at the recent Asian Games in Japan, brothers Carlos and Eldrew Yulo will lead the Philippine team in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Also representing the country are Haylee Garcia and Juancho Besana. Both Yulo brothers are expected to compete in the individual all-around, while Besana will focus on individual events. Carlos, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the floor exercise and vault, captured two gold medals in the same events at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. Eldrew, meanwhile, claimed bronze in the men’s horizontal bar. Garcia and Besana also competed in the continental showpiece, with Besana finishing fifth in the men’s vault final. In a video posted by the Asian Gymnastics Union, Carlos said the Asian Games served as part of his preparations for the world championships. “We had a competition in the Asian Games, so that one also is part of my preparation to go to the World Championships, so now we’re almost complete in our training camps, and we’re ready to go to the World Championships,” Yulo said. “I’m going to do six apparatuses, and hopefully we get to the finals,” he added. The Filipino gymnastics star also cited Japanese Olympic champions Kohei Uchimura and Yusuke Tanaka as his childhood inspirations, particularly Uchimura, who motivated him to pursue his Olympic dreams. “They’re both elegant, I think there’s no more explanation to that,” Yulo said. The FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships will run from Oct. 18 to 25 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

MANILA, Philippines — Jude Garcia wasted no time picking up where he left off after the Asian Games, spearheading Criss Cross’ 25-15, 25-14, 25-12 demolition of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. The five-time Conference Most Valuable Player erupted for 13 points on

THE Philippine Under-17 Women’s National Football Team (Filipinas U17) qualified for the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup for the third consecutive time, sweeping Group H of the 2027 qualifying tournament with a 3-0 win over Bangladesh on Sunday at Do’stlik Stadium Training Pitch 1 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Philippines had earlier beaten host Uzbekistan, 4-0, on Oct. 5. “Qualifying once is an achievement. Qualifying three times in a row tells us the work behind this program is sustainable. Each batch of the Filipinas U17 has built on the one before it, and we are proud of every player, staff member and supporter who made this possible,” said PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez. Bangladesh held the Philippines scoreless for 72 minutes. Noelle Granger had a shot in front saved by goalkeeper Meghla Rani Roy in the fifth minute and Aryanna Capsa’s shot from the left was saved in the sixth. Ariana Enderes’ lob from the top was saved in the 16th, and Granger’s running shot from the right was saved in the 24th. Bangladesh created chances of its own before halftime. Defender Mousumi Akter headed a left corner slightly wide in the 44th minute, and striker Alpi Akter’s lob from outside the box hit the crossbar in first-half stoppage time. The Philippines broke through in the 73rd minute. Right back Maya Rose Bascara tapped the ball in during a scramble after a left corner. Goalkeeper Abigail Garcia kept the lead intact in the 79th by saving Alpi Akter in a one-on-one counterattack. Granger sealed the result late. In the 90th minute, she scored from the front right off a nifty midfield through ball from substitute Ariana Gementiza. Granger completed her brace less than a minute later, scoring again off a running strike, after Savannah Chheng’s interception and long ball. The incoming Florida Gator scored five goals in the two qualification games, having scored a hat trick against Uzbekistan last Monday. The result extends a run of Asian Cup qualifications by the Filipinas U17, and players from earlier batches are now part of the senior Filipinas squad. Alexa Pino, Jael Guy and Ariana Markey of Batch ’24, and Aiselyn Sia, Tea Pidding and Leah Bradley of Batch ’26, are now regular members of the national team. The senior Filipinas are seeking a second straight FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance next year. “Sustainable excellence means a young player can see a path from the U17 team to the senior national team. Alexa, Jael, Ariana, Aiselyn, Tea and Leah are examples of that path, and they are helping the Filipinas as the senior team pursues a second straight World Cup. We want every new batch to follow them, and we are seeing great potential in the current U17 Filipinas,” Gutierrez said. Team manager Selu Lozano said the qualification is an achievement the whole team shares. “Credit goes to our players, coaches, staff and everyone who has supported this journey,” he said. He also credited former Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic for his guidance during the tournament. Filipinas U17 will set their sights on the 2027 AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in April 2027 in China. The tournament’s draw will be held in December 2026.

SHANGHAI, China — Men’s tennis confirmed it will crown a new world No. 1 as Germany’s Alexander Zverev was ensured the year-end honor on Monday after Carlos Alcaraz lost his third-round match in Shanghai. The career-first will cap a stellar season for the 29-year-old, the current world No. 2, after he won the French Open in June and the US Open in September. The French Open was his first-ever Grand Slam title. “It’s been a fantastic season for me winning in Paris and New York and knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true,” Zverev said in a statement shared by the ATP Tour website. “So much work and effort have been put into achieving this goal, especially after coming back from the ankle injury,” Zverev added. He suffered a career-threatening ankle injury in his French Open semifinal in 2022. Zverev will be the first German male player to finish his season as top-ranked in the world, and the oldest to lift the trophy, set to be presented in November, for the first time. Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Steffi Graf have both been the year-end No. 1 women’s tennis player. Zverev’s achievement comes in a year where the previous two players to hold the top ranking, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Alcaraz, have skipped months of competition due to injury. Sinner, the current No. 1, has not competed since Wimbledon where he beat Zverev in the final. He announced last week his season was over due to a knee injury. Alcaraz, ranked third, was sidelined for months with a wrist injury from April until the US Open. Zverev, 6-foot-6 (1.98 m), had been destined for the top from a young age, hailing from a tennis family where his mother and father both played the sport to a high level in the former Soviet Union. But he plays in the shadow of domestic violence allegations made by two former partners, which he has strenuously denied. The ATP Tour investigated one claim and found insufficient evidence to punish Zverev. Another led to a 2023 penalty order and fine from a German court which later dropped the case after a settlement was agreed in June of 2024 — hours before he was due to play in the French Open semifinals.

MIAMI — Klay Thompson didn’t sleep particularly well before his first training camp practice with the Miami Heat. It wasn’t nerves, wasn’t a bad hotel room, wasn’t anything like that. The problem was Erik Spoelstra. And it was a good problem to have. The Miami coach — entering his 19th season with the Heat, by far the longest current tenure of any coach in the NBA — always addresses his team on the night before the start of camp. And what Spoelstra said in this season’s kickoff speech had Thompson so fired up that getting rest proved difficult, if not impossible. “He cares,” Thompson said. “And it’s good to be around a head coach who doesn’t mind to kind of get into you. He respects your work, but he also wants to get the most out of you. And he doesn’t believe in ‘you’re past your prime’ or ‘your best years are behind you.’ He believes that you can still be effective at any stage you want — as long as you’re willing to work.” That part, the commitment to the work, never changes. But a run to the NBA Finals in 2023 was followed up by first-round exits in 2024 and 2025. And last season, when Miami wildly changed its offense but didn’t have anywhere near enough chemistry, the playoffs were missed entirely. So, change did happen. Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware — four of last season’s top seven overall scorers for Miami — are gone, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bobby Portis and Thompson in their place. And based on early returns, it’s easy to see why Spoelstra is firing people up when he talks about this season. “We all know what we’re here for,” Spoelstra said. “Everybody understands what they’re signing up for. There’s not any confusion about the agenda. There’s more an excitement about trying to commit to doing something collectively that’s really hard to do and hopefully ends in something so special at the end of the year. “You want to have that feeling as a coaching staff and as a front office, you also want the players to have the same type of feeling,” he added. “And it’s early right now, but it just feels like those things are aligned.”

LOS ANGELES — William Contreras homered and drove in three runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4, to take a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series on Monday (Tuesday in Manila). The Brewers’ victory, powered by a Milwaukee bullpen that did not give up a single hit over five innings, left the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers with a mountain to climb to reach a third straight World Series. Hopes were high among Dodgers fans that starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Most Valuable Player of last year’s World Series, would get their team back on track in the best-of-seven series. But Yamamoto, who pitched complete games in last year’s NLCS showdown with the Brewers and in the World Series, did not even complete three innings. He was hooked after throwing 75 pitches to Milwaukee’s obdurate offense, giving up three runs on four hits. The Dodgers’ star batter Shohei Ohtani continued to misfire — now 3-for-20 in the playoffs, with no home run since August — but was not alone struggling against a near-perfect Milwaukee bullpen showing. “Our mentality is to stay focused. It doesn’t matter what the game state is, if we’re ahead, if we’re behind, we’re gonna stay on the aggression and stay focused,” said Contreras. “I think we’ve been able to do a really good job of that as a team.” The Brewers, who led Major League Baseball with 103 regular-season wins, need two more wins to reach their second-ever World Series, 44 years after their previous appearance. A rollercoaster game began with Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly scoring Mookie Betts, but the Brewers replied in their first inning with a Contreras RBI single. The Dodgers capitalized on a throwing error by pitcher Logan Henderson, who tried to pick off Betts at first base. His spiked throw allowed Tommy Edman to cross home plate. An epic Brewers third inning put Milwaukee back in front. Captain Christian Yelich’s bases-loaded single scored David Hamilton and Brice Turang. By that time Yamamoto had thrown 36 pitches in the inning, and 12 solely in Jake Bauers’ tenacious, seven-minute at-bat. He was promptly withdrawn. The Dodgers retook the lead in the fifth, thanks to another Henderson throwing error on a Tommy Edman bunt. Kyle Tucker, who had hit a lead-off double, raced home, and this time Henderson was withdrawn.

MANILA, Philippines — Mylene Paat-Rezanova is treating every game of her 10th season in the Premier Volleyball League as if it’s her last. Paat-Rezanova entered the new season showing flashes of her old lethal form with a different mindset. The former league MVP made the most of her opportunity off the bench, leading Farm Fresh

Nxled leaned on a collective effort to sweep PLDT, 25-16, 25-20, 25-18, and open its 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series campaign on a winning note Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Meralco let its advantage slip away but still managed to find ways to fend off Blackwater's fightback for a 120-115 victory in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.