MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala was not penalized by the WTA for skipping a mandatory tournament to represent the Philippines in the Asian Games 2026, according to Philippine Tennis Association executive director Tonette Mendoza. In a Senate hearing conducted by the Committee on Sports on Thursday in the aftermath of the Asian Games, Senator Bong

MANILA, Philippines– Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the Asian Games again exposed a problem that has followed the national team through the years: the availability of Filipino players based abroad. Without the team’s mainstays and naturalized star Justin Brownlee, the Nationals went with an all-PBA roster with a lone holdover from the gold medal run in

ATLANTA — The New York Liberty opted not to advance the ball for a better shot at a tying 3-pointer, then said after their loss WNBA Wednesday night that officials told them they didn’t have a reset timeout left. The Liberty inbounded the ball under the basket, forcing them to go the length of the

SAN FRANCISCO — Veronica Burton hit a deep 3-pointer that put Golden State ahead with 41 seconds left and converted two free throws in the closing seconds, Tiffany Hayes had 21 points, and the Valkyries held off the Las Vegas Aces 83-81 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series.

RAIN or Shine hopes to keep its win streak going despite coming off a long break as it battles Barangay Ginebra on Friday in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila. Game time is 7:30 p.m. The Elasto Painters are shooting for their fifth consecutive win since opening the tournament with back-to-back losses. Rain or Shine currently sits on top of the Group B standings with a 4-2 record. Ginebra, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the Group B with a 2-4 card. Rain or Shine plastered Ginebra, 110-99, during their initial meeting on July 26. Import Aaron Fuller scattered 37 points and 12 rebounds against the Gin Kings, who then had Riley Grigsby as their import. Grigsby has since been replaced by Jordan Murphy. Murphy, a Puerto Rican forward, has built a professional basketball career overseas following his four-year college stint at Minnesota. The 29-year-old Murphy takes the spot of Grigsby, who served as Ginebra’s import through the conference’s first six games. Grigsby averaged 31.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks for the Gin Kings. Cone though felt, Murphy’s size is what the team needs now, especially since the team is still awaiting Justin Brownlee’s potential return. Brownlee, the four-time PBA Best Import, is still recovering from multiple injuries. In the curtain raiser, Magnolia and Blackwater clash at 5:15 p.m. Magnolia will try to avenge its 89-81 setback to Blackwater when they first met in July. Import KJ Buffen will be leading the way for the Hotshots, who will also have to find ways to contain the Bossing’s do-it-all reinforcement Kentrell Barkley. Magnolia currently sits at No. 2 in Group B with a 4-3 record while Blackwater is at No. 4 with a 3-3 card.

FILIPINA tennis ace Alex Eala had a full-circle moment when her idol, five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, interviewed her for a podcast content. There, Eala shared the weight of representing the Philippines on the big stage and the massive expectation for her to win every match. Eala understands the responsibility that representation carries and is determined to stay genuine amid the buzz and fuss surrounding her. “I’ll die on a hill, saying that you need to be genuine. So that makes me want to be like myself and be the best version I can be of myself. So that, I’m genuinely a good example for whoever who looks up to me,” the 21-year-old Eala said on Sharapova’s Pretty Tough podcast. “I try to do my best and represent my culture, and represent these lovely people the way that they deserved to be represented. You know, it’s a very emotional experience. When there’s much people involved, my experience is more emotional,” she added. Eala, ranked No. 18 in the world, said the support from her fans and her rise in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings come with tremendous pressure. “[And because of that support], there’s the pressure. Because I know how bad I wanted, I know what I represent. All of those things make this journey so much more emotional... And that’s not a bad thing,” she said. Eala said that she was thrilled back then when Sharapova agreed to take a photo with her when she was young. Now she talked with the former No. 1 netter as a peer. Times have changed for Alex Eala since her upset against world No. 2 Iga Swiatek on March 26, 2025, at the Miami Open, where she was then ranked No. 140. In year 2026, her rise in the WTA ranking demanded that she achieve more victories. “I am able to experience for the first time where I am in a position where I am supposed to win. That’s different, but I like to be in that position. I like competition in general. Whether I am the underdog or the one who’s supposed to win. I love it. I love being there,” she said. Eala recalled one of her toughest losses this year, which was the 2026 US Open, where she fell to her American friend Iva Jovic, 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, in a tightly contested match in the third round. “I had a tough loss here at the US Open. I think I played really well, and I definitely had my chances to win. I had a very difficult moment after the loss, especially the few moments after,” she said. “But as time went by, I just looked at my team, and I am so proud of the work that we put in. It’s the belief that my team has put on me.” The Filipina star said her every loss is part of her growth as a young netter. During the peak of Serena Williams, Sharapova defeated the heavily favored Williams to snatch the Wimbledon Open title in 2004.

WEEKS after Gilas Pilipinas faltered in its title-defense campaign in the just-concluded Asian Games in Japan, Filipino wingman Calvin Oftana said he had no regrets, stressing he was able to give his best for the national team. Oftana was the last man in for the Tim Cone-coached Philippine team, which fielded a new squad in Japan, far different that its lineup in the FIBA qualifiers. Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos and AJ Edu, among others, did not play for Gilas Pilipinas in Japan since the Asian Games is not a FIBA-sanctioned event, leaving Cone with a PBA-backed roster. The Asian Games unit was led Robert Bolick, Adrian Nocum and Oftana, the last player named to the team as naturalized player Justin Brownlee did not get the gree light to play as he recovers from multiple injuries. “I gave my best there (in the Asian Games). (But) we just underperformed,” Oftana said in Filipino during Wednesday’s resumption of the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup where TNT rolled past Terrafirma, 116-92. “We weren’t able to enter the next round, but I’m just proud that we represented the country with all our might, in every way we can.” The sweet-shooting former San Beda wingman played his first game for the Tropang 5G since missing the team’s first eight games for the conference due to nagging injuries. Oftana dropped 31 points against Terrafirma. In his return stint with Gilas Pilipinas in Japan, Oftana averaged over 18 points per game. Unfortunately, the Philippine team only won once in three games, while losing to China by 44 points at the close of the group stage, thus knocking Gilas out of the next round. “I’m proud of the fact we were able to represent the country. And we didn’t think of anything else but to just represent the Filipinos there, our coaches and teammates,” he added. RICHARD DY

ATLANTA— Angel Reese scored 23 points, Naz Hillmon made the go-ahead layup with 20.8 seconds left in overtime and the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 101-98 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals. Reese scored six of her team’s 13 points in overtime. She made two free throws

BY winning a silver medal in the men’s 55-kilogram division at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Carlo Paalam prevented a medal shutout for the Philippine boxing team. Paalam took home the silver after a razor-close 3–2 split decision loss to Japanese Rui Yamaguchi in the gold medal match. Paalam finished strong and clearly won the third round on all of the five judges’ scorecards. However, the lead Yamaguchi built in the first two rounds proved enough to secure him the gold. Paalam’s silver medal finish was an improvement of his bronze medal finish in the 2018 edition of the Asian Games. It also preserved the country’s unbroken streak of winning a boxing medal in the Asian Games since 1954. However, with Paalam settling for the silver, the boxing gold medal drought in the Asian Games continued. The last time a Filipino boxer collared a gold medal in the Asian Games was 2010, when Rey Saludar topped the men’s 52-kg division. The country sent seven boxers to this year’s Asian Games: Paalam, Eumir Marcial, Junmilardo Ogayre, Norlan Petecio, Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas, and Riza Pasuit. Marcial withdrew at the last minute as he was coming off a professional contest in the United States. Villegas and Pasuit were eliminated in the round of 32, Norlan Petecio in the round of 16, and Ogayre and Nesthy Petecio in the quarterfinals. Only Paalam advanced to the medal round. As things stand, the road ahead figures to be very bumpy for Philippine boxing in the amateur scene. The next stop is the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, California. The qualifying tournaments for the 2028 Olympics will start in April 2027, when Kazakhstan hosts the World (Amateur) Boxing Championships. This will be followed by the Asian Olympic Boxing Qualification Event in China. The Philippine team is expected to lean on familiar faces: former Olympic medalists Paalam (silver, 2020 Tokyo), Nesthy Petecio (silver, 2020 Tokyo; bronze, 2024 Paris), and Marcial (bronze, 2020 Tokyo). Relying on the same veterans highlights the Philippine team’s struggle to develop fresh fistic talents. Paalam (28), Petecio (34) and Marcial (30) are all getting up in years. Marcial is already a professional boxer, but he continues to moonlight as an amateur whenever a tournament like the Asian Games or the Olympics crop up. In the boxing competitions for the Southeast Asian Games last year in Thailand, the Philippine team had to tap the services of another pro boxer, Weljon Mindoro. Mindoro, a noted puncher in the pros, failed to make the necessary adjustments in the amateur level and settled for the bronze medal after losing to Vietnam’s Bui Phuoc Tung. Men’s boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has been trimmed to only seven weight classes. The lightest of these is now 55 kg (about 121 pounds), which matches the junior featherweight division (122 pounds) in professional ranks. The lower weight divisions where Filipino Olympic boxers like Mansueto and Roel Velasco excelled no longer exist. Mansueto famously won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the 48-kg light flyweight division, which is equivalent to the minimumweight (105 pounds) division in pro boxing. Olympic slots for Asian boxers will be up for grabs in the World (Amateur) Boxing Championships, but our boxers will be hard-pressed to clinch a berth. The competition in the Asian region has become tougher. Out of 13 total boxing gold medals awarded at the 2024 Paris Olympics, nine were won by Asian boxers (approximately 69.2 percent). Uzbekistan won five gold medals in the men’s division while China snared three golds in the women’s category. While our Asian neighbors have beefed up their national teams, the infusion of fresh blood in the Philippine boxing team has been almost non-existent. Uzbekistan is represented by a single national squad that undergoes a strict, rigid selection process. The Uzbekistan Boxing Federation determines its roster through national championships, selection camps, and coaching evaluations. Uzbekistan boasts immense depth and rotates younger prospects in youth, Under-22 or secondary international cups. The old Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines used to ran a localized grassroots program often referred to as “Go-For-Gold” boxing. The program followed an Olympic-style, regional format and became the promising boxers’ pipeline to the national pool. The fact that the Philippine boxing team continues to bank on the veterans underlines the need to overhaul the grassroots program, that is, if the current Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines even has one.

LOS ANGELES — The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1, to advance in the Major League Baseball Playoffs on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) as the Cleveland Guardians stayed alive with a win over the Chicago White Sox. Andy Pages put prior post-season disappointments behind him to deliver a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning for the Dodgers, who completed a 3-1 victory over the Braves in the best-of-five National League division series. Max Muncy added an insurance run in the ninth with his third homer of the series. It had been knotted at 1-1 since the second inning in Atlanta when Pages came through, rewarding the faith of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Braves starting pitcher Tyler Mahle opened the seventh by retiring Los Angeles star Shohei Ohtani but was pulled for rookie Didier Fuentes after giving up a single to Teoscar Hernandez. Fernandez recorded one out but walked two to load the bases with two out. The Braves sent veteran Robert Suarez in to face Pages, who stroked a fastball up the middle for the Dodgers’ first hit with runners in scoring position in the series. “I’ve been preparing myself all series for a moment like that, give myself an opportunity, get a good pitch to hit,” Pages said. “And luckily I was able to put a good swing on a pitch.” The Dodgers, trying to become the first team since the New York Yankees in 1998, 1999 and 2000 to win three straight World Series titles, will face either the Milwaukee Brewers or the San Diego Padres in the National League championship series. The Padres hosted the Brewers later Wednesday chasing a second straight home win to fend off elimination. “It’s important,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Once you get to an elimination game... anything can happen. And to be able to win today, get back, reset, have a day off tomorrow, set the rotation, it’s huge.” In Chicago, Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez and Jo Adell struck run-scoring triples to power the Guardians’ to a 9-3 triumph over the White Sox. With Cleveland facing elimination after dropping two straight at home, Ramirez went two-for-four at the plate with a double, a triple, two runs-batted-in, two runs scored and a stolen base. “The approach was to get on base, try to put pressure on the other team with my speed, and make something happen. Thank God all those things came out well,” said Ramirez. The White Sox, hoping to clinch a playoff series at home for the first time since 1906, had fired up fans with a slender first-inning lead before a Steven Kwan single and Adell’s bases-clearing triple put Cleveland up 4-1 in the third. ‘Great mindset’ Chicago twice cut a three-run deficit to two, but couldn’t rein in Cleveland — who belted two triples in a playoff game for the first time in franchise history. “It was a great mindset from the team,” Ramirez said. “I think we did the best we could because there’s no way back. So we really came out competing, and that’s what we wanted to do.” The best-of-five American League Division Series continues Thursday in Chicago, where the White Sox have another chance to extend a fairytale year that has seen them bounce back from three straight 100-loss seasons to improbably reach the playoffs. The eventual winner will face either the Tampa Bay Rays or the New York Yankees. The Rays were looking to complete a sweep of that series at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.