PUMA steps up with All-Pro NITRO and MB.03 Lo Team reveal

PUMA continues to make its presence felt in the basketball scene with the release of two new sneakers: the All-Pro NITRO™ Fire Glow and the MB.03 Lo Team. Both shoes feature PUMA's game-changing NITROFOAM™ technology, delivering superior responsiveness and cushioning in a lightweight package to keep you explosive on the court.

The All-Pro NITRO™ Fire Glow is packed with performance features to elevate your hoops game. The engineered mesh upper provides targeted support, breathability, and comfort, while the TPU-welded Formstrip adds extra stability. Underfoot, the NITRO™ midsole cushions every step with its advanced nitrogen-injected foam, and the high-abrasion rubber outsole ensures grip and traction for quick cuts and agile movement. 

It comes in a sleek new Fire Glow colorway, with vibrant red-orange accents heating up the shoe's primarily black silhouette. You’ll be sure to stand out in this new colorway while you’re driving the lane, handling split-second crossovers, or crashing the backboard.

The MB.03 Lo Team is the latest entry in the signature line of PUMA ambassador LaMelo Ball. Like the All-Pro NITRO™, the MB.03 features PUMA NITROFOAM™ technology, delivering a responsive step for high-octane plays. The MB.03 also features a rubber outsole with an anti-slip traction pattern to keep you on your toes and locked in all game.

It will be available in the these intergalactic colorways: PUMA Black-Strong Gray Team, Regal Red-For All Time Red, and Hyperlink Blue-Bright Aqua-Electric Peppermint.

Both the All-Pro NITRO™ Fire Glow and the MB.03 Lo Team are now available at select PUMA stores, as well as via PUMA.com.

Manila Digger FC reveals new signings

Manila Digger with their new signings

Hoping to make a dent at Kaya FC's dominance in the women's club football scene in the Philippines, Manila Digger FC announced on Monday at Taguig its acquisition of four new players.

Officially joining the team are Kiara Fontanilla, Rhea Chan, Cynthia Covarrubias, and Poetrie Bedgood.

The first two are familiar to Filipino football aficionados, as both players have been called up for international duty with the Philippines. Their experience and skill will come in handy to aid MD FC, which finished fourth in the league table, afterwards defeating Far Eastern University in penalties before bowing to Kaya FC, 1-0, in the final last November.

Coming from the University are Covarrubias and Bedgood, and both are expected to make an on-field impact on the side with their dynamic playing style.

In making the announcement, Club Manager Oscar shares, "We are excited to have the girls [Kiara, Rhea, Cynthia, and Poetrie] and welcome them to the team. They will bring their experiences and competitive edge to the team."

With these signings, Manila Digger FC is committed to building a team that not only competes at the highest level but also embodies the spirit and passion of women’s football in the Philippines ahead of a thrilling season ahead.

UAAP Season 87 logo unveiled

UAAP Season 87

The University of the Philippines, through its Office for Athletics and Sports Development, unveiled the logo for the forthcoming 87th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Inspired by this season's theme of Stronger, Better, Together, the logo illustrates the call towards its member schools to constantly look forward, be relevant, and achieve collective greatness by working together.

Called "Hands In Huddle," it is a circular, colorful logo with hands and dots that catch the first attention. A closer look reveals that the hands – in the colors of the eight UAAP universities – also contain stylized human figures, making up a team of diverse universities working as a team.

Serving as a parallel to the league's official logo, the arrangement of each UAAP member-schools is in clockwise motion to its scheduled hosting, starting with the University of the Philippines atop for this year, followed by the University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University, National University, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Adamson University, and capped off by last season's hosts, the University of the East.

The theme is attached alongside the logo, with a colorful image play of the number 87 onto the ST portion of the word STRONGER.

In marking the unveiling, UP OASD Director Bo Perasol shares how the host school came about with this design.

"The clenched fist in the UP Fighting Maroons team logo has transformed into an open hand that reaches out to every one in a spirit of cooperation and partnership. It says the best way to be strong, productive, and relevant is to encourage participation from everyone, be it as a league, as a community, or as a nation."

Perasol adds, "Host school UP, with its colors, maroon and green, is at the top and invites the league, the community, the general public, and the country to come together and do great things as one. When we work as a team, in and out of sports, we can reach great heights and accomplish much."

UP also shares that the league will open its 87th season on September 7, with the collegiate basketball tournaments set to commence things following the traditional opening ceremony.

Perasol notes about that particular event, "This year’s opening ceremony will bring to life the season theme of ‘Stronger, Better, Together.’ Hopefully, it will inspire us all to take the message expressed by the season logo, which is strength in unity, to heart."

Malixi Shows Moxie in Winning U.S.Girls’ Junior in Record Fashion

c/o USGA

For 363 days, Rianne Malixi had to live with the sting of a heartbreaking, championship-match loss in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. The 1-down defeat to Kiara Romero, who then enjoyed an All-American season at the University of Oregon, in Colorado Springs, Colo., provided more than enough motivation for the 17-year-old from the Philippines in the months leading into the 75th edition at El Caballero Country Club.

Plenty of sacrifices were made, including giving up some social activities, as Malixi wanted to avenge the defeat. From the moment she arrived in Southern California, one could sense the purpose and drive in the diminutive dynamo. There was confidence in her gait as she rolled to the No. 2 seed in stroke play, sharing second position with University of Southern California incoming freshman Jasmine Koo; they were four strokes behind medalist Kinsley Ni. Malixi’s focus never wavered as she eliminated foe after foe, including a 19-hole thriller in the Round of 32 over Kennedy Swedick, and an impressive 3-and-2 semifinal triumph on Friday over Koo, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® and a member of the 2024 USA Curtis Cup Team.

And then in Saturday’s 36-hole championship match against Asterisk Talley, 15, of Chowchilla, Calif., in sweltering heat, Malixi performed as if her name had been already engraved on the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.

Her impressive 8-and-7 victory over the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion was the largest in championship history. Nancy Lopez (1974) and Michelle McGann (1987) each registered 7-and-5 decisions back when the final was contested over 18 holes (the format switched in 2006). Malixi, who plans to play at Duke University in the fall of 2025, joined Princess Mary Superal (2014) as the only U.S. Girls’ Junior champions from the Philippines. Yuka Saso, in 2021, won the U.S. Women’s Open representing the Philippines, the country of her mother. She captured the title again in June representing Japan, the country of her father.

The victory earns Malixi a spot in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Erin Hills, where she hopes to play a practice round with Saso and current World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

“It's huge I know,” said Malixi with a wide smile dashed across her face. “It's hard for me to comprehend right now because everything just came in so quickly. I know being USGA champion means a lot. Being able to do that is a huge honor for me and I'm very grateful."

“It was such a heartbreak last year because I was so close. After that U.S. trip I just practiced a lot. I spent a lot of hours training in Manila. I sacrificed a lot of my social time, school time. Not only me, but my dad (Roy) also sacrificed a lot of time for me just to accompany me. My family had their share [of sacrifices] and I'm just really grateful for everything.”

Malixi had arguably one of the best days of her career on Saturday, registering 14 birdies against no bogeys in 29 holes of golf. In the morning 18, she shot the equivalent of 9-under 62 – with the usual match-play concessions – in taking a 6-up lead into the 2½-hour lunch break. One of those birdies came on the par-5 first hole, where she made 4 eight times in 10 visits.

But Malixi wasn’t going to rest on her laurels, especially given that Talley edged her for the title in this year’s Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, a prestigious event held in late March in Graniteville, S.C. In fact, the two shared one of the on-site cottages. Talley later would finish eighth in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (Malixi failed to make the cut), win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Sarah Lim in May at Oak Hills Country Club and share low-amateur honors in the U.S. Women’s Open with reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megan Schofill and USC All-American/2024 USA Curtis Cupper Catherine Park.

And Talley did come out firing with three birdies over the first four holes in the afternoon session but could only cut the margin to as little as 5 down. Malixi won the par-5 25th with a birdie to go 6 up, birdied the par-4 27th from 20 feet to take a 7-up lead, and closed it out two holes later with a par after Talley’s recovery shot from a greenside bunker sailed well past the flag into rough guarding the back of the green. She nearly holed out for par, and once Malixi coaxed her 15-foot putt to 3 feet and converted the par attempt, the two exemplary juniors hugged.

For the No. 57 player in the WAGR, it was an emotional loss as she tried to become just the fourth woman to win multiple USGA titles in the same year to join Pearl Sinn (1988), Jennifer Song (2009) and Eun Jeong Seong (2016), and just the second player to have won a U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball (Erica Shepherd).

In Friday’s semifinal win over 2022 runner-up Gianna Clemente, Talley was the player on fire with 10 birdies over 17 holes.

“I'm proud of myself for how I played this week, but I made too many mistakes out there today,” said the fourth-seeded Talley, fighting tears. “I tried to turn it around in the [second 18] but I was too far away, and I couldn't reach her. She was playing too well. She played her butt off today and I couldn't do anything.”

Golf is a game where opponents can’t play defense and Talley had no answers for the birdies being stacked by Malixi. In fact, Malixi only trailed for three holes the entire week, and that was in her semifinal win over Koo. She also only needed 107 holes to win the title, the second fewest in the 36-hole, championship-match era (Eun Jeon Seong 104 in 2015) that began in 2006.

Playing tournaments in 11 different countries over the past two years has toughened the Manila native. Earlier this year, she finished fifth in the Korean Women’s Open. She also competed in the Women’s Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A at Royal Portmarnock in the Republic of Ireland, and represented her country in last year’s Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in the United Arab Emirates.

And now there will be a lot more travel in her future. Besides all of the USGA championships, she also receives a sponsor’s exemption into the LPGA Tour’s JM Eagle LA Championship that will be held at El Caballero C.C. next year due to renovations going on at nearby Wilshire C.C. She also has a likely invite to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Philippine Curling Team Dares to Dream for a 2026 Winter Olympics Bid

Philippine Curling Team

Can a team from a tropical country excel in an ice sport like curling?

That’s what the Philippine National Curling Team – composed of four Fil-Swiss players -- are out to prove when they go through the rigorous preparations of vying for a slot in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy.

Alan Frei, Filipino-Swiss entrepreneur, economist, curler and spokesman of the team said the Philippine men’s squad bagged a silver medal in the B-Division of the Pan Continental Curling Championships in Kelowna, Canada in 2023. The team aims to repeat the feat this October in Alberta to move up to the A-Division in the 2025 championships. The top two teams there get guaranteed spots in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Frei, a relative newcomer to curling, joined the Filipino team in March 2023, a year after he sold his Swiss e-commerce business and decided “to become an Olympian”. Sharing his dream are teammates Christian Haller, a two-time world junior championship medallist, and brothers Marc and Enrico Pfister who previously competed for Switzerland in world curling championships. 

All Swiss-born like Frei, Haller, and the Pfister brothers are eligible to play for the country because of their Filipino mothers.

“The sport of curling is like playing chess on ice. It’s a combination of strategy and physical skill. We have a huge advantage in the strategy part because we have the experience of the three guys who have played on the world stage,” said Frei.

To test their skills further, the National Men’s Curling Team will be competing in an off-season tournament this August, the Baden Master’s in Switzerland where they will face World’s No. 1 Italy in their first game. Currently placed at 51st in the men’s rankings of the World Curling Member Association, Frei said the team is excited to play Italy so they can gauge exactly where they stand.

The Swiss-Filipino team hopes that more Filipinos can become aware of their goals and what they’ve been doing so they can be inspired even more.

Frei said the curling team shoulders all their expenses at present, citing their need to first achieve “success” before asking for financial support from the POC and other possible sponsors.

The Swiss-Filipino athletes are also eyeing a podium finish against top Asian countries like China and Korea in the 2025 Asian Winter Gamesin Harbin to gain national recognition.

“The curling team aspires to pave the way for future curling athletes from the country in their bid for the Olympics. We are trying to foster [Filipino talent] more and more just by being a role model and having this super ambitious goal,” Frei said.

With the help of the POC and national sports associations, the team plans to hold exhibition tournaments in the country and provide training for aspiring Filipino curlers. The Curling Winter Sports Association of the Philippines, which the team is a part of, also aims to increase its membership from about 50 to 100 people this year according to Frei.

Frei said Filipino communities come out to support them anywhere they play, worldwide.

Single-minded in their dream to bring honor to the country, Frei revealed they want to achieve what the Jamaican Bobsled Team did in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. Received as underdogs in a cold weather sport, the Jamaicans competed against all odds and came out the favorites.  

“We don't have a plan B. We have only one plan and that is to go to the Olympics,” Frei concluded. 

San Miguel, Meralco complete 2024-25 EASL field

PBA x EASL

The last two teams of the upcoming East Asia Super League's 2024-25 season are now officially confirmed, with the Philippine Basketball Association selecting the San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts.

Both teams were picked based from their performances in the just concluded season of the oldest Asian professional league.

League Commissioner Willie Marcial shared this statement in line with the announcement: "The PBA is excited to send two of its champion teams to compete in EASL. The San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts showed their strength last season by winning the Commissioner’s Cup and Philippine Cup, respectively. They will represent Filipino basketball with pride and we hope that one of them will be crowned the champion of East Asia next season."

EASL CEO Henry Kerins adds, "Filipino teams and fans bring great competitiveness and passion to EASL and we are delighted to confirm the participation of the San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts next season. We expect them to compete strongly for the championship, against the best teams from the rest of East Asia."

San Miguel finished as the 2023-24 Commissioner's Cup champions and finished runner-up in the Philippine Cup, losing to Meralco in the finals.

Both teams have had previous stints in the EASL, with San Miguel having played in the Terrific 12 iteration of the league in 2019, while Meralco was part of the campaign last season.

For this coming campaign, San Miguel has been allocated into Group A alongside B.LEAGUE champions Hiroshima Dragonflies, KBL runners-up Suwon KT Sonicboom, and P.LEAGUE+ runners-up Taouyan Pauian Pilots.

As for Meralco, they will be placed onto Group B, joining fellow EASL participants last year Ryukyu Golden Kings and New Taipei Kings, with KBL champions Busan KCC Egis completing the field.

The upcoming season will have a new champion, as last year's title holders Chiba Jets was unable to qualify after not making to the finals of this past B.LEAGUE season.

PUMA DEVIATE NITRO™ 3 set to help deliver running PBs

PUMA Deviate NITRO 3

Earlier this month, PUMA revealed their latest edition of the Deviate, as it tries to redefine speed in a way that the running scene is yet to experience. At the same time, it helps empower runners to unlock their new personal bests.

Called the Deviate NITRO™ 3, it embodies PUMA's relentless pursuit towards excellence in performance footwear, giving its wearers the necessary confidence to hit the road.

"We’re living in a world where athletes and runners have high expectations. They want to set PBs and break records, time and time again. To do that, you need a shoe that gives you the competitive edge – that’s where Deviate comes in," according to Romain Girard, VP Innovation at PUMA.

Engineered with the cutting edge NITROFOAM™ technology to deliver supreme cushion and responsiveness, the shoe also integrates its carbon fibre PWR Plate with PUMA’s unrivalled PUMAGRIP. The former offers a smoother and more consistent source of speed, resulting in an explosive toe-off that propels runners beyond their normal limits, while the latter enables multi-surface traction in even the most testing conditions.

Meanwhile, a lightweight engineered mesh upper features strategically placed PWR Tape to provide support in high stress areas, with a padded collar offering additional comfort and fit.

Priced at PhP 8,800, the Deviate NITRO™ 3 is now available worldwide via PUMA.com, your favorite PUMA outlet, and at select retailers.

For more information, please visit www.puma.com.