Filipina spikers finish eighth in AVC tourney
n rt BIÑAN, Laguna – The Philippines ended its campaign in the 19th AVC Asian Women’s Senior Championship with a loss to Kazakhstan at the Alonte Sports Arena.
The defeat relegated the Southeast Asian Games-bound squad to eighth place – the country’s second best in the tournament since its fifth place finish in the 1983 edition.
Kazakhstan downed the Filipinas 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 21-25, 15-3.
But the eighth-place finish was enough for the Philippines to make it to the AVC Asian Volleyball Cup next year.
“( pero) at least nag- five sets tayo, p- in-
Kinapos siguro rove ’ ’ to,” said coach
natin na kaya pala natin Francis Vicente. “So, tong mga
kailangan ensayo, push lang natin pumukpok pa sa gumaling.”
pa natin ang sarili After dropping the first natin para two sets, the Philippines went aggressive in the third frame, building an early 16-13 edge before halting the numerous rallies by Kazakhstan with hits from Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago.
I n t he f ourth set, t he FOR Philippines trailed early 2- 8 before l aunching a run to
N L E X R o a d Warriors head coach Yeng Guiao, that his team acquired his former player Cyrus Baguio from Phoenix Fuel Masters in a three- team trade recently was a wish granted.
He had long wanted to get Baguio on board but initial talks with Fuel Masters bogged down since NLEX cannot offer the latter the player it wanted, Guiao revealed. “Early in the season negotiation between
pa the two teams for Cyrus may na nag- materialize,”
pero said the seven- time PBA walang champion coach. “I am glad
Pero siya.”
na nakuha na namin The entry of the former University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers star was an added boost to his squad – Baguio will serve as one of the mentors to the younger players – Guiao said.
“We need these veteran players to mentor our young players. We need experience, leadership and knowledge of basketball because
alam overlapping young namin magkakaroon ng and old players namin,” said
iyong Guiao.
“Gradually this will be the team of Kevin Alas, Alex Mallari, and the other young guys. But for now, we need the guidance and leadership of Larry ( Fonacier), Asi ( Taulava), JR ( Quinahan), and Cyrus.”
Road Warriors continued to dominate in the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup with a 5-1 win-loss record. It will return to action tonight against the struggling Blackwater Elite (1-4). With his record feats in
MVP JERON? the ongoing PBA D-League Foundation Cup, Flying V Thunder star Jeron Teng was poised to clinch his first league Most Valuable Player plum.
The former De La Salle University Green Archer a veraged a l l - a r o u n d numbers with 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while leading Thunder to the verge of a finals stint.
The 23-year-old Teng also LEVON
Aronian smashed Lenier Dominguez Perez in the final round to take the rapid phase of the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Tournament now ongoing in St. Louis, Missouri.
Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura wound up tied for second to third places, while longtime leader Ian Nepomniachtchi could only manage 1 point in the last three rounds to end up in solo fourth place.
The tournament’s double round- robin blitz phase is now under way as we write this. Under the tournament’s rules, each win in the rapid gets 2 points in the overall tally while draws are awarded 1 point. Blitz games are scored normally with 1 point for a win and ½ for a draw.
Former world champion Garry Kasparov showed rust from 12 years of retirement, losing three times, winning one and drawing five games to finish in a tie for seventh to 10th places with former world champion Viswanathan Anand and David Navara.
Final rapid standings: 1 . A r o n i a n , 6 ; 2 - 3 . Nakamura, Caruana, 5 ½ ; 4. Nepomniachtchi, 5; 5. Dominguez Perez, 4 ½ ; 6- 7. Le, Karjakin, 4; 8-10. Kasparov, Anand, Navara, 3½.
Kasparov,G (2812)-Navara,D (2737)