KYRGIOS OUSTS TSITSIPAS
SWIATEK MAKES EXIT, NADAL MOVES ON
Mitra’s final act
Outgoing Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chairman Baham Mitra held a meeting with officials of different pro basketball leagues at the government agency’s office in Makati to discuss a proposed Memorandum of Understanding laying down rules and regulations for the next administration to implement as his final act before leaving his post which is co-terminus with former president Rodrigo Duterte last Thursday.
Representatives from PBA, MPBL, FilBasket, NBL, Pilipinas Super League and VisMin Cup attended the gathering that Mitra called “to address issues and concerns without bias for a specific league and help the new administration in assessing the current situation of pro sports.” Mitra submitted a proposed MOU “to tackle issues and unlawful activities that may affect the integrity of sports such as game-fixing, pointshaving and athlete pirating across leagues.”
In the discussion, Pilipinas Super League’s Leo Isaac suggested GAB clearance for players transferring leagues after approval by their original league and teams. NBL’s Rhose Montreal cited the case of Bulacan’s Lawrence Mallari who was pirated during the recent NBL semis. FilBasket’s Jai Reyes said with GAB’s support, the league hopes to continue providing livelihood to players and coaches with professionalism as its core value.
“It was a meeting on how all pro leagues can work together to co-exist,” said Reyes. “We took up issues like how to address game-fixing and defaults on payments to players.” PBA deputy commissioner Eric Castro said he adheres to the MOU principles and will review the draft closely. He added that rigid training of referees is an ongoing process to uplift the PBA’s standards.
Mitra and other presidential appointees of the previous administration stepped down from office at noontime last June 30. In GAB’s case, lawyer Ermar Benitez was designated OIC up to July 31 or until replacements are appointed. “We hope the gains of the Duterte administration at GAB will be sustained,” said Mitra. “The free medicals should be put into law.” Officers and members of the Association of Professional Boxing Promoters, Managers, Matchmakers, Judges, Trainers and Boxers recently appealed to President Marcos to retain Mitra and commissioners Raul Lagrisola and Ed Trinidad. Among the signatories in the letter of appeal were Cucuy Elorde, Brico Santig, Dino Olivetti, Vic Saludar and Jing-jing Tepora.
London (AFP) – Stefanos Tsitsipas said Nick Kyrgios has an “evil side” after a stormy clash at Wimbledon on Saturday in which the victorious Australian called for his Greek opponent to be kicked out of the tournament.
The bad-tempered match overshadowed the rest of the action on day six, which included the end of Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak and a routine victory for Rafael Nadal.
The mercurial Kyrgios prevailed, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), in an incident-packed third-round match on Court One.
The contest descended into mayhem when a frustrated Tsitsipas hit the ball into the crowd after losing the second set.
Kyrgios told the umpire that Tsitsipas should be kicked out of Wimbledon, recalling the incident at the US Open in 2020 when Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the tournament after hitting a line judge with a ball.
“You can’t hit a ball into the crowd and hit someone and not get defaulted,” said the 27-year-old, who received an audible obscenity warning during the match.
He kept up his verbal jousting with the umpire, clearly unsettling Tsitsipas, who was warned over the incident and later handed a point penalty for hitting the ball in frustration towards the back of the court.
The bad feeling bubbled up again in post-match press conferences, with fourth seed Tsitsipas saying it felt like a “circus.”
“He bullies the opponents,” said the Greek, who admitted trying to hit the ball at Kyrgios.
“He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people that put other people down. He has some good traits in his character, as well but... he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him.”
Tsitsipas said he wished players could “come together and put a rule in place” to curb Kyrgios’s behavior.
But Kyrgios laughed off Tsitsipas’ accusations, describing his opponent as “soft.”
Earlier, French veteran Alize Cornet took advantage of an error-strewn performance from Polish women’s world No. 1 Swiatek to triumph, 6-4, 6-2.
The 21-year-old Swiatek has not lost a match since her defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in February in Dubai, winning her past six tournaments, including the French Open.
“I know I didn’t play good tennis,” said the top seed.
Second seed Nadal, chasing a rare calendar Grand Slam, beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, to set up a Last 16 match against Dutch 21st seed Botic van de Zandschulp.
Australian 19th seed Alex De Minaur beat British wild card Liam Broady in straight sets and will play Chile’s Cristian Garin in the Last 16.