BVS returns as Chameleons battle Davison, High Speed Hitters

Oct 12, 2026

Eala slips one spot to No. 19 in WTA rankings

Oct 12, 2026

Hitters, Chameleons battle for first win in PVL

THE PLDT High Speed Hitters and the Nxled Chameleons begin their campaign in the 2027 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference-Siklab Series on Tuesday at the Araneta Coliseum. PLDT and Nxled clash for their first win at 6 p.m., after the match of Farm Fresh and Galeries at 1 p.m., and Spikers’ Turf teams Criss Cross and Armed Forces’ face-off at 3:30 p.m. Both tough contenders, the High Speed Hitters and the Chameleons, aim to show their pedigree and kickstart their seven-month PVL All-Filipino campaign. The Siklab Series (first round), slated from Oct. 10 to Dec. 4, is a single round-robin with a mandatory “all-to-play” rule requiring every declared player to see action. The top four teams will advance to the semifinals, with the top two teams gaining a twice-to-beat advantage in a best-of-three championship. PLDT will rely on fiery hitter Savi Davison, together with Kianna Dy and Mika Reyes, in facing the forces of three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Brooke Van Sickle, Jonah Escamillan, and EJ Cariño. Nxled came off a strong Invitational Conference, finishing silver, despite Van Sickle being sidelined, while PLDT finished bronze in the same conference. The High Speed Hitters were the PVL On Tour and Invitational Conference champions in 2025, keeping the same core of players, while Nxled is laden with former Petro Gazz players, which earned the 2025 All-Filipino Conference crown. In PVL’s 10th anniversary, two women’s games sandwiched a Spikers’ Turf match with tough team Criss Cross facing the Armed Forces. This is the first time that PVL and Spikers’ Turf share the same schedule. To open the triple-header day, the Farm Fresh Foxies, led by Trisha Tubu and Ces Molina, look to overpower the Galeries with Camilla Lamina and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas. The top four teams at the end of the round will advance to the semifinals, acquiring a twice-to-beat advantage, for the best-of-three championship. The second round is slated from January to March with the same structure but without the all-play requirement, allowing coaches full lineup flexibility. And for the final round (April to May), points from the first two series determine seedings for a stepladder-style finale that crowns the first-ever Philippine Grand Champion.

Oct 12, 2026

Rays chase first MLB crown; Guardians try to end drought

WASHINGTON — Cleveland’s quest to end the longest active title drought in Major League Baseball (MLB) continues against a Tampa Bay squad seeking the first crown in its 29-year history. The Guardians, who have not won the World Series since 1948, visit Tampa Bay for Monday’s opener in the best-of-seven American League (AL) Championship Series after eliminating the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. The Guardians, who changed their nickname from Indians after the 2021 campaign, rallied to win the last three games to advance. “The mindset is always the same regardless of the outcome. That’s baseball,” Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez said. “You have to always find a way how to win, and that’s what this group has done, find the ways to win. “And for us it’s going to continue to be the same — find ways to win and how we can go to the next round.” Cleveland last reached the World Series in 2016, when the Chicago Cubs won a dramatic seventh game to snap their 108-year title drought, the longest in North American sports history. Cleveland also lost to the then-Florida Marlins in seven games in the 1997 World Series. The Rays, who swept the New York Yankees in the second round, had the AL’s best record this season at 98-64 while the Guardians went 85-77. Tampa Bay went 5-1 against Cleveland in the regular season, outscoring the Guardians, 20-8. The Rays took two of three in April in Cleveland then swept a home series in late July, but three of the six games were decided by a single run. “As far as the Guardians go, it feels like it’s kind of like a Yankees series where they’re always tight ballgames,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Very well-played. Very well-pitched. Big, timely hits.” Rays outfielder Ryan Vilade, who batted.245 with 11 home runs and 43 runs batted in this season, smacked his first playoff homer against the Yankees and said Tampa Bay’s supportive team spirit has been a key to this year’s success. “This team, this group, we’re close. We cheer one another on very hard,” Vilade said. “We play for one another and I think that’s what makes it special.” “We’re a bunch of dogs. We’re going to go out there. We don’t care who’s on the other side. We’re going to go out and compete and do our thing and be ourselves and not try to do too much.” The AL champion will face the National League champion, either the Milwaukee Brewers or defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, in the World Series starting Oct. 23.

Oct 12, 2026

Troubled Man City seals statement win

LIVERPOOL — Manchester City shrugged off the threat of huge sanctions to beat 10-man Liverpool, 3-0, in their first game since being found guilty on more than 100 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules. Second-half goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki extended City’s flawless start under Enzo Maresca after Ryan Gravenberch had been sent off for two yellow cards. City reestablished their three-point lead at the top of the table, but the future of any title challenge rests on the outcome of the club’s appeal against widespread financial impropriety. “We need to learn how to deal with the outside noise, but make our own noise, which is to win games,” said Maresca. “Our fans were singing at the end, so the noise was from us.” An independent commission found City and their Emirati owners arranged “sham” deals to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018. No sanction has yet been handed down, but a severe points deduction or even expulsion from the English top flight are on the table unless City overturn the decision. There has even been speculation there could be retrospective action to strip titles. “The uncertainty is not good for anyone,” said Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola. The multiple breaches of Premier League laws came during a period in which City won three titles and a clutch of other trophies. City’s rivals believe, however, that the illegal spending during that period also built the foundations for a golden era under former boss Pep Guardiola, who left at the end of last season. Liverpool were one of the clubs most affected, having finished second to City three times in the past 12 years. “City have fundamentally cheated to win those leagues,” Jamie Gallaghie, a 48-year-old teacher, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The visitors arrived under the protection of a police escort with a hostile Anfield welcome expected, but there was no repeat of the violent scenes when their team bus was pelted by bottles ahead of a Champions League clash in 2018. Generation of supporters cheated Liverpool fans lined the streets to greet the City players with chants of “cheats” and “going down,” while merchandise stalls were littered with flags and scarves mocking their rivals’ financial scandal. In the iconic Kop end behind one goal a banner read “a generation of supporters cheated.” The battles between Guardiola’s City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in recent years became the Premier League’s marquee event. But with the eyes of the world watching, Liverpool failed to rise to the occasion on the field. New Liverpool boss Iraola’s options were blunted without the injured Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo as the Spaniard suffered his first defeat since taking charge of the Reds. An Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008 transformed City from mid-table mediocrity into the dominant force of the English game. City’s economic might was on full show and helped turn the game as Maresca could introduce Doku off the bench early in the second half. Within minutes the Belgian winger had been chopped down by Gravenberch, who was shown a harsh second booking, and Liverpool never recovered. Doku’s deflected shot was then smashed home by Haaland to break the deadlock 25 minutes from time, opening the floodgates. Three minutes later Doku curled a sensational strike into the top corner himself. Cherki then exchanged a slick one-two with Josko Gvardiol before slotting under Alisson Becker to rub salt in Liverpool wounds. The defeat leaves Liverpool nine points adrift of the leaders down in ninth. AFP

Oct 12, 2026

Brennan dominates PGA Tour in Japan

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Michael Brennan won the Baycurrent Classic on Sunday for his second victory of the season and third on the PGA Tour in the last calendar year, closing with six straight pars for a 3-under 68 and a one-stroke victory over Jacob Bridgeman and Keith Mitchell. Brennan, who shared the 54-hole lead with Bridgeman and Zach Bauchou, rebounded from a bogey on the 10th hole with birdies on the next two holes before his run of pars at hilly Yokohama Country Club. One of those pars was a long bunker shot to a foot on the 16th. He finished at 16-under 268. Brennan won the Bank of Utah Championship on Oct. 26, 2025, on a sponsor exemption. The 24-year-old from Wake Forest also won the Wyndham Championship two months ago. This was only his 33rd start on tour. Bridgeman missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th and closed with a 69. Mitchell played the final 10 holes in 2 over for a 68. Defending champion Xander Schauffele was one shot behind playing the 18th, drove into the trees and made double bogey for a 67 to tie for fourth. European tour MADRID — Grant Forrest got up-and-down for birdie on the reachable par-4 18th for a 2-under 70 and a one-shot victory in the Spanish Open on Sunday, earning the 33-year-old from Scotland his first trip to Augusta National for the Masters. Forrest was tied with late-charging Victor Perez of France going to the 322-yard closing hole. Both drove into rough just beyond the green, their golf balls separated by the length of their shoes. Perez chipped to 10 feet and missed. Forest’s chip ran out to just over 3 feet for the winning putt. The victory also gets Forrest into the British Open, which he has played twice previously. The closest he came to the Masters was in 2015 when he was runner-up in the British Amateur. Forrest, who finished at 14-under 270, capped off a tense finish that featured five players with a chance in the final hour. Eugenio Chacarra and Jacob Skov Olesen fell back with bogeys on the 17th. Chacarra (66) tied for second, moving him to No. 2 in the Race to Dubai. PGA Tour Champions PALM COAST, Florida — Vaughn Taylor closed with a 4-under 68 and made a 10-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to defeat Alex Cejka in the Constellation Furyk & Friends, his first PGA Tour Champions title and his first victory anywhere in more than 10 years. AP