Category: Sports

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Sangalang, Vosotros mull legal action vs. Singaporean accuser

Magnolia center Ian Sangalang and TNT guard Almond Vosotros are eyeing legal action on Singaporean national Koa Wei Quan for dragging their names to a game-fixing scandal. Both Filipino players denied accusations that they were offered bribes just to arrive at certain outcomes during their 2018 games, even saying that they do not know Koa personally. “Hindi ko ipagpapalit ang career at dangal ko sa ganung bagay (I will never exchange my career and integrity for such thing),” Sangalang told Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Willie Marcial as quoted by the league’s website on Monday. On the other hand, Vosotros, who is part of the Philippine men’s 3×3 basketball team for the Southeast Asian Games, personally denied to the Philippine News Agency his alleged role in the scandal. “Di ko naman siya pinapansin kasi hindi naman yun totoo and honestly, di ko naman kilala yung tao na yun (I don’t really care about the issue that much because it’s not true and honestly, I don’t know the guy),” Vosotros said during the athletes’ sendoff event at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay. “If kailangang malinis yung name ko, gagawin ko (I need to clear my name, I will take legal action).” Sangalang was said to have been offered USD5,000 (roughly PHP280,000) in exchange for dropping Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel. Vosotros, on the other hand, was allegedly offered bribes on three occasions during his time as a player for Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) in the Thai Basketball Super League. Recently-crowned Sportsclick AsiaBasket International Championship Most Valuable Player Jalen Robinson was also dragged into the game-fixing case as Koa allegedly offered bribe to the American center to help Vosotros in keeping a certain winning margin in the game between PEA and Thai General Equipment. Meanwhile, Vosotros is not seeing the ongoing game-fixing court trial in Singapore as a distraction for him ahead of the SEA Games. “Our focus is to win the gold in the SEA Games,” Vosotros said. He was joined by Joseph Eriobu, Lervin Flores, and Joseph Sedurifa in the Gilas squad eyeing to reclaim the men’s 3×3 basketball gold in Phnom Penh

Source: Philippines News Agency

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Indonesia’s Crossfire team partaking in training camp in China

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s national esports team for the Crossfire game event is partaking in a training camp program in Hangzhou, China, as part of the preparation for the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia.”The training camp in China for Crossfire national team is part of PBESI’s (Indonesian Esports Central Board’s) commitment, especially in enhancing the skills and honing the intuition (of athletes) in competing strategically,” PBESI’s Secretary General Frengky Ong said through an official statement on Sunday. He expressed hope that the good preparation of the team and support from professionals will result in good achievements at the multi-sport event. The training camp is carried out at an esports hotel operated by the Chinese technology and entertainment company Tencent. During the program, the national team will also conduct match-ups with strong teams from China to hone technical aspects, including skills and strategies, as well as non-technical aspects, such as mental readiness. “Since February 2023, all national teams have been seriously trained through the national training center held at the Bellezza, Jakarta,” he said. He advised the national team to make the most of the training camp to carry out their mission. Head of Indonesia’s Esports National TeamYohannes Paraloan Siagian explained that Crossfire is one of the first-person shooter (FPS) games that has been around for a long time and has enlivened Indonesia’s esports scene. ccording to him, the national team had previously bagged the bronze medal at the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam in 2021. He noted that the achievement had boosted the national team’s confidence that, with innovations to prepare the team, including the training camp, it will be able to achieve better accomplishment at this year’s edition of SEA Games. Siagian expressed optimism that by participating in the training camp, which is supported by up-to-date esports facilities and opportunities for match-ups with reputable teams, the Crossfire national team will have better competitiveness for the 32nd SEA Games. baca-jugaRelated news: Esports team targeting 4 golds at Cambodia SEA GamesRelated news: Amali, PBESI discuss preparations for Cambodia SEA Games

Source: Antara News Agency

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Nearly 600 Indonesian athletes to take part in SEA Games 32

Indonesia’s contingent for the 32nd SEA Games, which will be held in Cambodia from May 5-7, is set to comprise 599 athletes, said Minister of Youth and Sports Dito Ariotedjo.

As reported by Indonesia’s national news agency Antara, the athletes include 379 men and 220 women.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI), and Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) have agreed on the number, which was decided based on the review team.

The athletes will compete in 31 out of the 36 sports at SEA Games 32.

In the 31st edition in Vietnam last year, the country sent 499 athletes and ranked third overall by winning 69 gold, 91 silver, and 81 bronze medals.

Indonesia has set a target of 60 golds at SEA Games 32./.

Source: Vietnam 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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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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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