Day: April 16, 2023

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Top seed on brink of 2nd straight PH Satellite squash title

Top seed Robert Andrew Garcia moved closer to a second straight title after beating David William Peliño in the semifinal match of the Philippine Satellite Series 2 at the National Squash Center inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila late Saturday. The world’s No. 187 Garcia took advantage of his familiarity with Peliño’s game to prevail, 11-9, 11-9, 17-15. They have been playing doubles for the past six years. “I’m very disappointed because I had many chances to convert the points and get the third set. Maybe, if I got the third set, the result would be different,” Peliño said in an interview after the match. He also lost to Garcia in the first leg last week and in the National Open final last March “Garcia is hard to beat. His game is solid and he has big chance to win the title again,” added Peliño. Garcia will be up against South Korean national player Yoo Jae-jin, who scored an 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 win over Reymark Begornia in the other semifinal of the three-leg event organized by the Philippine Squash Academy, Inc. headed by Robert Bachmann. The third leg is scheduled April 20 to 23. Garcia and Peliño captured the 23rd International Jumbo Doubles for the President’s Cup at Tanglin Club in Singapore on Feb. 19 and the Philippine Jumbo Doubles Championships on Feb. 26. Garcia is also a quarterfinalist at the Professional Squash Association Challenge Cup in Hong Kong last month.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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PhilCycling nat’l road tourney set May 30-June 2

The Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (PhilCycling) announced on Sunday the staging of the National Championships for Road from May 30 to June 2 in and around Tagaytay City and neighboring Batangas towns. The tournament will have competitions in road (massed start), criterium and individual time trial (ITT) for men and women Elite, juniors (17 and 18 years old) and youth (16 and under) categories. Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino said the National Road Championships are entered in the International Cycling Union calendar. Online registration is until April 30. PhilCycling will announce the list of eligible cyclists on May 5. Recognized teams or clubs will be allowed to register a maximum of eight riders in road (massed start), five in criterium and three in ITT. A rider will be allowed to race in a maximum of two events. More details about the tournament will be available at PhilCycling’s official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/philcycling. The National Road Championships are supported by the POC, Philippine Sports Commission, Tagaytay City, Eighth District of Cavite, Province of Cavite and First District of Batangas. Last year’s winners were Jermyn Prado (women’s Elite criterium), Mathilda Krog Boots Ryan Cayubit (men’s Elite criterium), Mathilda Krog (women’s Under-23 criterium), Rench Michael Bondoc (men’s Under-23 criterium), Kim Bonilla (women’s junior 17-18 years old), Pepito Khalil (men’s junior), Angelica Altamirano (women’s youth Under-16) and Guill Aisaiah Farin (men’s youth). Prado topped the ITT and was second in massed start (road) in the 30th Southeast Asian Games which Tagaytay City hosted in 2019.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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Son Heung-min scores in 2nd consecutive Premier League match

Fresh off a milestone goal in the Premier League, Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur has now scored in consecutive matches for the first time this season. Son netted his eighth goal of the Premier League season against AFC Bournemouth at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday (local time). Son had scored his 100th Premier League goal in his previous match, becoming the first Asian player to reach the century mark, and now sits two away from reach the double figures in Premier League goals for the seventh straight season. Despite Son’s 14th-minute goal, Tottenham suffered a 3-2 loss. Son scored in front of his South Korean national team head coach and former Tottenham star, Jurgen Klinsmann, who is traveling to Europe to watch Son and other South Korean players plying their trade there. Klinsmann made his South Korea coaching debut with a 2-2 draw against Colombia on March 24, and Son scored both South Korean goals in that contest. The one other South Korean in the Premier League, Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, scored just his second goal of the season in a 2-0 victory over Brentford at home on Saturday. Hwang has missed a big chunk of this season, his second in the Premier League, due to injuries. It was his second match back after missing the two previous matches with an unspecified injury.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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China’s Zhang TKOs Brit, snags WBO interim heavyweight title

China’s Zhang Zhilei smashed British Joe Joyce with a sixth-round technical knockout (TKO) here on Saturday to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight interim title. “This fight was easier than I had expected,” said Zhang, who traveled from his US basecamp to challenge the 37-year-old Joyce, who had a stunning professional record of a 15-win clean sweep. “I have been working so hard and now I get the reward.” Joyce was cheered by an overwhelming crowd at the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, but suffered a lot since the first round from ‘Big Bang’ Zhang’s heavy punches. The 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist was staggered time to time and his face was covered by blood often. The referee decided to end the match in the sixth round and Zhang replaced Joyce to become the mandatory challenger for unified champion Oleksandr Usyk’s WBO title. “I want to thank my coach, my team and the fans in China as they had to stay up so late to watch my fight. This victory is my best birthday present from my team and myself,” said Zhang, who turns 40 next month. But Zhang (25-1-1 win-loss-draw), whose dream is clinching the world title, didn’t think that he would rest too long after the huge victory. “I don’t want to waste any time,” he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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UNESCO report: $97 billion needed to meet 2030 education targets

Without US$97 billion in extra funding, a range of countries will fail to meet their 2030 national education targets, a new United Nations (UN) report revealed on Friday, calling for an urgent review of financing. The paper ‘Can countries afford their national SDG4 benchmarks?’ by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was written as input for the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It focused on Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Findings showed that the education sector will need an injection of funds if countries are to meet their targets. In addition to mobilizing additional resources, strategies are needed to increase the effectiveness of funding. The largest financing gap is in sub-Saharan Africa: US$70 billion per year. The region has the furthest distance to travel, with 20 percent of primary school age children and almost 60 percent of upper secondary school age youth not in school. Around one third of the gap could be filled if donors fulfilled their aid commitments and prioritized basic education in the poorest countries, the report found. Wanted: More teachers Other key findings emphasize that costs include the need to triple the number of pre-primary teachers in low-income countries and double them in lower-middle income countries by 2030. The number of primary school teachers needs to increase by nearly 50 percent in low-income countries. While the full impact of Covid-19 pandemic disruptions remains unknown, the report found that costs also include making up for massive learning losses that exacerbated the pre-existing learning crisis. Only half of children and adolescents are now prepared for the future, having completed their education and with minimum proficiency in reading. Meanwhile, two thirds of low and lower-middle-income countries had cut their public education spending in the first year following the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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Oudomxay people water revered Pha Chao Singkham Buddha image

Apr 15, the second day of Pi Mai Lao B.E. 2566 (Lao New Year) celebration, many people converged at Pha Chao Singkham Buddha Temple, La district, Oudomxay to sprinkle with fragrant water Pha Chao Singkham Buddha image which is highly revered by people in Oudomxay and neighbouring provinces.

“As for this year, we could realize that watering Pha Chao Singkham Buddha image is very joyful as today watering activity was attended by a large number of people. As for me, I have brought my kids, grand children to water the Buddha image to ask for wishes and chase away bad lucks so that we can welcome new things to our family,” said Loung Onkeo Lattanavong, a retiree from Ban Donkeo, Xay district, Oudomxay.

“I have brought my kids and grand children to water Buddha images to chase away bad things and welcome good things to myself and family. I would like to encourage other people to preserve this fine culture forever,” said Pa Soi, a resident of Mone Tai, Oudomxay.

Legend has it that the Buddha statue at Pha Chao Singkham Buddha Temple was cast over 400 years ago and has supernatural powers, according to Laos Simply Beautiful, the official facebook page of the Department of Tourism Marketing, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

Source: Lao News Agency