KFM down Desert Titans in FBL opener
Regency sink GIC as Nature Spa thump Fil Q8 in women’s volleyball Best of the Rest
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: KFM beat Desert Titans in the opening game of Filipino Basketball League (FBL) conference Friday 70-53, paced by Lompero who was named the best player of the game.
KFM dominated from the get go and never gave the Titans a foothold in the game. KFM scoring was initiated by Carlos Dimalanta who kept the score board moving in the first quarter with help from Ricky Fernando.
Lompero kept a low key initially to open up from the second quarter. He scored a total of 18 points.
Allan Yap was the key player for the Titans who kept the fight on with 23 points. Close to half of the Titans’ score came off the hands of Yap.
In the second game, Samuel lost to Chater 69-77. In the hotly contested game, Samuel began with a spree of baskets, opening a huge lead of 25-14, leaving Chaters reeling under their onslaught.
However, in the second quarter, Chaters turned the tables around, scoring 27 against a meek 12 by Samuel. The third quarter was fought tooth and nail, but Chater kept the lead, scoring 18-14. Samuels couldn’t rewrite the script in the last quarter, managing to score 14 against Chater’s 22.
Eric Barbieto for Chaters was the best player, who was richly deserving of the honor for his flamboyant 25 including a few 3-pointers. Bumagat was the last ray of hope for the Samuels, but with poor support from his team there was little he could do.
In the last game of the day, Pinoy Kuwait trounced Saveco with a whopping 95-72. It was a comprehensive defeat architected by Kokoy Quimbao, although his scores little reflected the achievement.
The scoring moved 14-20, 30-43, 4762 and 72-95. The Pinoys were unstoppable in the last round, as they amassed 33 points to leave Saveco wondering what hit them.
Meanwhile in the Women’s Volleyball League, Regency beat GIC in a game that was one sided after the first set. GIC took the first set 25-23. But few expected what was coming, as Regency stormed the second set with vengeance taking it 25-4. The final set ended 25-13, safe in the hands of Regency. Alpay was the best player.
In the second game, Nature Spa took down Fil Q8 2-0 in a thumping victory. The first set ended 25-14, and the second set 25-19. Robyn of Nature Spa was the best player.
The team rankings as of Friday were: Go Sport at no. 1 with 9 wins and 1 loss, followed by Regency Hotel with 8 wins and 2 losses, Nature Spa came third with 7 wins and 3 losses, while Fil Q8 stood at 4th with 3 wins and 7 losses.
In the semi final round Go Sport will take on Fil Q8 and Regency Hotel will face Nature Spa. The winners in the two games will go on to play the final game, while the losers will compete for the second runner up. Sneijder again left out: Wesley Sneijder has again been left out of Inter Milan’s squad despite the club’s insistence that it is not trying to force him into signing a new contract.
Sneijder has been sidelined for two months with injury but has now returned to fitness. On Saturday Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni said the Netherlands playmaker could feature on Sunday against Palermo as “he has trained well this week.”
However, Sneijder was not in the 22-man squad named later in the day.
Inter caused a stir a week ago when club director Marco Branca said Sneijder wouldn’t play again until he made a decision about his future, and a new deal which requires him to take a pay cut.
Sneijder is set for talks with the club on Monday. (AP) Christie wins 1000m: Britain’s Elise Christie won the women’s 1000-meters race on Saturday at a World Cup short-track speedskating meet.
Christie, the World Cup leader, clocked a time of 1 minute, 30.489 seconds to beat South Korea’s Kim Min-jung, who had a time of 1:31.371. Lee So-youn, also of South Korea, was third in 1:31.443.
Russia’s Victor An won the men’s 1000 meters with a time of 1:28.344, edging J.R. Celski of the United States by 0.073 seconds. Noh Jin-kyu of South Korea was third in 1:28.772.
World Cup leader Shim Suk-hee won the women’s 1,500 meters with a time of 2:47.066, beating compatriot Park Seung-hi by 0.075 seconds. Cho Ha-ri made it a clean sweep for South Korea; third in 2:47.248.
The men’s and women’s 500 meters finals will be on Sunday. (AP) Cole dies at age 27: Mitchell Cole, who scored in the first competitive club game at the new Wembley Stadium, has died at the age of 27.
Cole, who found the net for Stevenage against Kidderminster in the 2007 FATrophy final at Wembley, retired as a professional player last year because of a heart condition.
“We are sad to hear former Southend, Stevenage and Oxford player Mitchell Cole has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family and friends,” the English Football League said on Twitter. Cole was married to the sister of former England midfielder Joe Cole. (RTRS) Cerron elected as president: The Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) has elected Jose Luis Lopez Cerron, the man who delivered the beef to Alberto Contador that the rider said led to him testing positive for clenbuterol in 2010, as its new president.
Lopez Cerron, a former professional cyclist and organiser of Spain’s Tour of Castilla and Leon, was voted in at an assembly in Madrid on Saturday, the RFEC said on its website (www.rfec.com).
The 56-year-old bought the allegedly contaminated meat in Irun, a town on Spain’s north-west border, before taking it to Astana’s team hotel in Pau, France where it was eaten by Contador on the 2010 Tour de France’s second rest day.
The rider, who has since switched to Team Saxo-Tinkoff, went on to win the race but his subsequent positive test for clenbuterol, a banned substance, led to him being stripped of the title, his third victory after triumphs in 2007 and 2009.
He was banned for two years and returned in August to win the Tour of Spain. (RTRS) Big Buck’s extends run: Big Buck’s was the star turn at Newbury on Saturday, Paul Nicholl’s brilliant nine-year-old stretching his record unbeaten run to 18 to set himself up for a fifth World Hurdle triumph at Cheltenham next March.
Sent off as the 1-12 favourite Big Buck’s never had to get out of first gear as he despatched his three rivals in the Grade Two Long Distance Hurdle with complete contempt.
His jockey Ruby Walsh told Channel 4 television: “He’s a wonderful horse, bomb proof, and the closest thing to a racing certainty.
“He travelled beautifully — brilliant!”
Big Buck’s has a reputation for being something of a lazy character when at home at Nicholl’s west of England stable, prompting Walsh to reflect: “He’s a bit of an odd ball, but all geniuses are a bit strange...”
Big Buck’s winning run started at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day in 2009. (AFP)