Skidding Painters skin Kings
Oliva caps YOG stint in style
BUENOS AIRES – Nicole Oliva, who chose to represent the Philippines instead of the United States in this Youth Olympic Games, became the first Filipina swimmer to race in the finals of the YOG. Not once but twice. Oliva, who lives in Santa Clara, California with her Filipino parents, Mark of Cebu and Cynthia of Iligan, swam in the finals of the 400-meter freestyle Friday at the Olympic Park here.
The 16-year-old Oliva topped her morning heat with a time of 4:16.72, edging Ching Hwee Gan of Singapore (4:17.86) and bets from Norway, Peru, Latvia, San Marino and Portugal.
Then in the finals, before a big crowd that cheered like they were in a soccer match, the Filipina who almost drowned in the pool when she was one year old even swam faster at 4:16.61 to finish sixth among eight entries.
Ajna Kesely of Hungary won the gold in 4:07.14, Delfina Pinatiello of Argentina silver (4:10.40) and Marlene Kahler of Austria bronze (4:12.48).
Last Wednesday, she also made it to the finals of the 200-meter freestyle, finishing seventh with a time of 2:02.13, surprising everybody, including her parents and swim officials.
In this YOG, Oliva also raced in the 100-meter and 800-meter freestyle but did not get past her heats. But to get to the finals in two of her four events, all QTAs (qualifying time A), is reason to cheer.
“I was just trying to make the cut here and to have a good experience, do my best and see how this will prepare me in future international competitions for the Philippines,” she said.
“That’s the plan,” said Oliva, who’s looking at the 2019 Manila SEA Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She saw action in the 2017 SEA Games and won the silver in the 4x200 free.
Golfers Yuka Saso and Carl Jano Corpus begin their quest in the 54-hole team event at Hurlingham Club Saturday while archer Nicole Tagle sees action in the mixed international event with her teammate from Estonia, Hendrik Oun.
Tagle will also vie in Sunday’s invidivudual event. Once again, action in the kiteboarding was stalled due to lack of wind, as well as Filipino entry Christopher Tio’s medal hopes.
It turned out all Rain or Shine needed was a different scenery to nail down a first win.
Even minus one key player and ranged against the much-touted Barangay Ginebra Kings, the Elasto Painters finally checked their slump, pulling the rug from under the reigning back-to-back champs, 104-97, in their PBA Governors Cup Petron Blaze road showdown at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena last night.
Behind a torrid shooting and a dogged effort on the defensive end, the E-Painters pulled away in the third period and displayed poise and grace in the face of a searing Ginebra chase in the fourth quarter to chalk up a first win after losing all their first four games in the season-ending tourney.
It’s a sweet win for the E-Painters especially coming at the expense of the tournament pacesetters whom they dealt a second loss against seven wins.
Magnolia (6-1) and Alaska Milk (5-1) try to boost their own bids for a Top Four finish and a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals as they clash in the 6:45 p.m. mainer over at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.
NLEX (4-4) looks to arrest its two-game skid while Meralco (1-6) fights for dear life at 4:30 p.m. The scores: Rain or Shine 104 – Watson 29, Ponferada 18, Ahanmisi 12, Norwood 11, Belga 8, Daquioag 7, Tiu 6, Yap 6, Washington 4, Borboran 3, Onwubere 0.
Ginebra 97 – Brownlee 23, Tenorio 15, Mariano 14, Ferrer 13, Thompson 10, Aguilar 7, Caperal 6, Chan 5, Dela Cruz 2, Caguioa 2.
Quarterscores: 28-28, 51-44, 87-73, 104-97