Alas suspended two games

c/o UAAP Media

Ateneo will be without a key cog as it enters the stretch run of the season, with its head coach Louie Alas being suspended by the UAAP for the next couple of games.

The UAAP shared this on Monday afternoon: 

Louie Alas, head coach of Ateneo de Manila University, has been handed a two-game suspension following the accumulation of two infractions and his unsportsmanlike conduct after the Ateneo-UP game on November 7 in the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Alas will serve his suspension on Wednesday, November 11, when the Blue Eagles face Adamson University at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, and on Sunday, November 15, when they take on the University of Santo Tomas at the same venue.

One game of the suspension stems from an incident at the 3:55 mark of the first quarter of Ateneo’s game against UP on November 7.

Alas entered the court to complain about a non-call and remained on the playing court despite being warned by the nearest referee to return to the sideline. He was subsequently assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike behavior.

Alas’ first infraction occurred during Ateneo’s game against UST on October 17.

At the 5:15 mark of the third quarter, he attempted to distract UST’s Amiel Acido as the latter attempted a corner three-pointer. After Acido converted the shot, Alas touched the back of the UST player. Although the incident was missed by the game officials, the Commissioner’s Office reviewed the play and imposed the appropriate disciplinary sanction under the UAAP House Rules and applicable FIBA regulations.

Alas had previously served a one-game suspension on October 10 after accumulating three infractions, with his infraction count reset to two following the first suspension, as per UAAP House Rules.

The second game of his latest suspension stems from his conduct after the November 7 game against UP. With less than a second remaining, Alas entered the court, pointed at UP’s Jacob Bayla, and cursed at him following the latter’s dunk. He again pointed at and cursed at the UP player during the post-game handshake.

Alas also engaged in an exchange with UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon despite attempts by UP coaches to pacify him. The Commissioner’s Office determined that his actions escalated tensions between the two teams and risked a potential altercation.

Before the start of the second round, all coaches were issued a memorandum reminding them to refrain from engaging in altercations with opposing players and to uphold the values of sportsmanship, respect, and fair play that the UAAP stands for.

Ateneo de Manila University can appeal the decision.

Please be guided accordingly.

Ateneo is currently toting a 5-6 record as they chase for a Final Four berth in the next few weeks.

UAAP hands one-game suspension to Haydee Ong

via UAAP

The UAAP released a statement in issuing a one-game suspension to University of Santo Tomas women's basketball team head coach Haydee Ong on Saturday.

Statement reads as follows:

Haydee Ong, head coach of the University of Santo Tomas, has been handed a one-game suspension following the accumulation of three infractions in the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Ong will serve her suspension on Sunday, November 8, when the Growling Tigresses face the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

Ong’s third infraction occurred during UST’s game against De La Salle University.

At the 3:30 mark of the third quarter, the UST bench was assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike behavior after members of the coaching staff and players vocally and demonstratively disagreed with an official’s call.

The incident occurred despite the team having received an official warning in the second quarter, as members of the bench continued to openly challenge officiating decisions.

Her first two infractions occurred on October 17, during UST’s game against Ateneo de Manila University.

A one-game suspension is imposed upon the accumulation of three infractions under the UAAP House Rules, an increase from last year’s limit of two.

Please be guided accordingly.

As a result, she will miss out on Sunday's matchup against Far Eastern University, and will return on Wednesday, November 11, against the University of the East.

UP extends winning streak to six matches

c/o UAAP Media

UAAP Season 89 Men's Basketball Standings
Team W-L
UP 8-2
NU 7-3
FEU 6-4
DLSU 6-4
Ateneo 5-5
AdU 4-6
UST 4-6
UE 0-10

Games on Saturday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

8 a.m. – UPIS vs AdU (16U)
10 a.m. – AdU vs UE (Women)
12 p.m. – UP vs Ateneo (Women)
2:30 p.m. – AdU vs UE (Men)
6 p.m. – UP vs Ateneo (Men)

University of the Philippines fended off Adamson University, 82-70, to solidify its hold on first place in the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

The Fighting Maroons improved to 8-2 with their sixth consecutive victory, establishing a one-game cushion over the NU Bulldogs in the standings while keeping their bid for a sixth straight Final Four appearance on track.

“Kahit na hindi pumapabor sa akin ‘yung laro and ‘yung situation ng game, bale hindi ko pinanghinaan ng loob. ‘Di ako nagmukmok sa gilid. Sumunod pa rin ako sa game plan and sa coaches ko,” said Rey Remogat, who bounced back from a scoreless outing in his previous game with 12 points, six assists, and four rebounds.

James Payosing led the Fighting Maroons with 15 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Dikachi Ududo posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Elliot Dimaculangan chipped in 11 points and three rebounds.

After shaking off a slow start, UP seized control with a 13-3 run in the second quarter to build a 14-point advantage at halftime.

The Fighting Maroons maintained their double-digit lead through the third quarter, but the Soaring Falcons mounted a comeback in the fourth, cutting the deficit to single digits after a Matt Erolon triple, 70-62.

Although an Earl Medina three-pointer once again trimmed the gap to eight, Adamson suffered a huge blow when Erolon went down with cramps with 4:40 remaining.

UP capitalized on the setback, responding with a Veejay Pre jumper before Remogat delivered the dagger from beyond the arc with 2:20 left to put the game out of reach.

With Erolon still sidelined, Remogat added a scoop layup to further cement the Fighting Maroons’ victory with 1:34 remaining.

Adamson was also without Precious Jonah, who injured his right leg in a collision while boxing out with teammate Medina and FEU’s Elias Gish during the Soaring Falcons’ previous game against the Tamaraws.

Remogat has fully embraced his leadership role for the Fighting Maroons, earning praise from the coaching staff for his competitive spirit and composure.

“Well, si Noy, he’s never afraid of the limelight. ‘Yung fight na meron siya, hindi lang sa basketball, and I think nagta-translate siya sa loob ng court. Second nature na sa kanya,” said UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon.

UP will look to strengthen its hold on the top spot when it faces Katipunan rival Ateneo de Manila University on Saturday at the same venue.

The Soaring Falcons, meanwhile, dropped to 4-6, tying the UST Growling Tigers for sixth place and further hurting their Final Four hopes.

Erolon paced Adamson with 20 points, while Monty Montebon contributed 13 points and four rebounds in the loss. Mat Edding and Ray Allen Torres added 10 points apiece.

Adamson will seek to snap its three-game losing streak when it takes on the struggling University of the East on Saturday, also at the Big Dome.

The Scores:

UP 82 — Payosing 15, Remogat 12, Ududo 12, Dimaculangan 11, Bayla 7, Pre 6, Yñiguez 6, Alter 4, Briones 3, Palanca 2, Stevens 2, Maga 2.

AdU 70 — Erolon 20, Montebon 13, Edding 10, Torres 10, Medina 6, Anabo 4, Cañete 3, Ojarikre 2, Cruz-Dumont 1, Tumaneng 1, Demisana 0, Perez 0, Pacquiao 0, Mangaron 0.

Quarterscores: 19-17, 45-31, 68-58, 82-70.

Ajido, Polo set to kick off Team Philippines campaign in Dakar

Ajido (via POC Media)

Jamesray Mishael Ajido plunges into action in swimming and Angel Polo brings her young act in wushu as competitions kick off on Sunday, a day after Africa welcomed close to 3,000 athletes to the fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) that’s being played for the first time in the African continent.

Ajido swims in the third of four heats for the men’s 100 meters butterfly at 10:54 a.m. (6:54 p.m. in Manila) at the Complexe Tour de l’Ceuf pool, while Polo vies for a final 8 seat against 10 opponents in the preliminary round of women’s Taijishian at the Diamniadio Expo Centre starting at 10:12 a.m. (6:12 p.m. in Manila).

“I hope to do my best here, because these are the YOG and it’s already a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be here,” said Ajido, 17, and an 11th grader at Homeschool Global. “I trained very hard for months for this.”

It would be a swim against the tide for Ajido—silver medalist at the 2024 Southeast Asian age-group championships and a Palarong Pambansa record holder—in the event where 31 swimmers will be targeting the eight berths in the final scheduled 3:32 p.m. (Dakar time) also on Sunday.

Polo, who’ll turn 16 this December 21, brings with her a bronze accomplishment at the 10th World  junior championships in Tanjin, China, last March—on the YOG mat where she’ll be facing 11 opponents in the traditional Chinese martial art.

Shy and unassuming, the 10th grader at Pasay North City High School said she’s happier than ever competing on the most prestigious sporting stage for junior athletes.

“Very very happy,” she said, adding that her school allowed her to take a leave from her academics to train for Dakar.

“I trained twice a day under coach Li [Chinese Li Jianfang] from 9 to 11 in the morning and 4 to 7 in the afternoon and evening,” she said.

On Monday, Polo will again compete in the women’s Taijiquann preliminaries and it will be Riannah Chantelle Coleman’s turn in the pool in the women’s 200 meters breaststroke heats.

The wushu finals are scheduled Monday.

“We know that our young athletes have prepared themselves for these YOG and we’re hoping for the best results,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino, who’s been monitoring the team here along with secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan and chef de mission Rocky Samson.

Dakar and Senegal opened the YOG on Saturday night with hundreds of dancers celebrating Senegalese and African culture unde the games’ motto “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates.”

IOC president Kirsty Coventry and Senegal  President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the games open at 6 at the 55,000-seat Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, a rising city 30 kms from the capital.

Philippines set for Dakar YOG Opening Ceremony

First batch of Team Philippines (via POC Media)

The curtain rises on the 4th Youth Olympic Games on Saturday night under a “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” theme with the handful nine-member Team Philippines hoping for the best result in a field that features athletes aged 15 to 17 years old who are bigger, looking stronger and all ready to rumble.

It will be tough, according to Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who has done the rounds with his secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan, since arriving in this West African country last Wednesday.

“They’re big and they look strong,” said Tolentino of the American and European athletes who’re already in town ahead of Saturday’s two-hour Opening Ceremony set at the 55,000-seat Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio, a new city about 30 kms from Dakar.

“It will be very difficult,” added Tolentino who welcomed on Thursday night here the first batch of Filipinos exhausted from their 30-hour flight from Manila via Istanbul at the Blaise Diagne International Airport also located in Diamniadio.

“So it’s good luck to our athletes, although I’m sure they prepared hard for this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Tolentino added.

Unlike in the Summer Games where the Filipino athletes’ stock now belong to the world’s elite, the YOG has yet to produce the country’s best and brightest potentials who would someday become another Hidiyln Diaz-Naranjo or a Carlos Yulo.

Already checked in at the Athletes’ Village were swimmers Riannah Chantelle Coleman and Jamesray Michael Ajido and wushu’s Angel Polo and their coaches Ramil Ilustre and Jensen Halili (swimming) and Chinese Li Jianfang (wushu).

Colemann and Ajido will bear the Philippine flag in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony and they will be joined by Polo, Chef de Mission Rocky Samson, Illustre and Li.

Flying to Dakar also via Istanbul on Saturday are gymnastics athletes Hillarion Palles III and Tchelcy Mei Maayo and coaches Reyland Capellan and Kazutaka Hakamada, and on November 4, it will be the turn of cycling’s Maritanya Krog and coaches Mark John Lexer Galedo and Marita Lucas and athletics’ Pi Wangkay and Naomi Cesar and coach Jasper Tanhueco.

Celebrations are already taking over Senegal’s capital, according to local reports, as the city prepares to welcome the rest of the world—primarily the more than 2,700 athletes—to the first Olympic event on African soil.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the first Olympic sporting event on African “soil offers the continent a chance to challenge low expectations and show the world what it can achieve.”

“It feels like a long time coming,” Coventry, a two-time Olympic swimming champion, told a press conference at the Main Press Center on Thursday. “The excitement of having the first-ever Olympic event here is a little bit surreal.”

A visit to the Youth Olympic Village in Diamniadio also caught the IOC chief’s enthusiasm.

“It felt like you were walking in the village in Paris or in Milan,” she said. “And I think that is something to be incredibly proud of.”

Senegal was awarded in 2018 to host the YOG originally scheduled in 2022, but was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic and moved to 2026.

Dakar YOG Ceremonies Director Khady Niang said the Opening Ceremony will allow Africa to “tell the world who we are, where we come from and where we want to go”.

The production aims to showcase Senegalese identity and Africa’s cultural diversity, featuring around 11,000 performers, including 700 dancers.

Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye will join Coventry in the ceremony.

Tolentino meets first batch of Philippine contingent at YOG

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino (center) and secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan (third from left) and chef de mission Rocky Samson (right) welcomes the first batch of athletes and coaches—(from left) wushu coach Li Jianfang and athlete Angel Polo and swimming athletes Riannah Chantelle Coleman and Jamesray Michael Ajido and coaches Ramil Ilustre and Jensen Halili upon their arrival at the Blaise Diagne International Airport Senegal, on Thursday night. (Via POC Media)

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino tempered down the nine-athlete Team Philippines’ chances for a podium finish at the 4th Youth OIympic Games (YOG) that start in a day’s time in Senegal.

“They’re big and they look strong,” said Tolentino of the early bird participants from the Americas and Europe as he did the rounds of the fields of play and the Athletes Village in Diamniadio town, some 40 kms from the capital, upon his arrival here with POC secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan on Wednesday.

“It will be very difficult,” added Tolentino who welcomed on Thursday night here the first batch of Filipinos exhausted from a 30-hour flight from Manila via Istanbul at the Blaise Diagne International Airport also located in Diamniadio.

Already checked in at the Athletes’ Village where athletes are provided with electric fans and not air-conditioning units in each room, are swimmers Riannah Chantelle Coleman and Jamesray Michael Ajido and wushu’s Angel Polo and their coaches Ramil Ilustre and Jensen Halili (swimming) and Chinese Li Jianfang (wushu).

“So it’s good luck to our athletes, although I’m sure they prepared hard for this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Tolentino added.

Flying to Dakar also via Istanbul on Saturday are gymnastics athletes Hillarion Palles III and Tchelcy Mei Maayo and coaches Reyland Capellan and Kazutaka Hakamada, and on November 4, it will be the turn of cycling’s Maritanya Krog and coaches Mark John Lexer Galedo and Marita Lucas and athletics’ Pi Wangkay and Naomi Cesar and coach Jasper Tanhueco.

First batch of Filipino athletes set forth to Dakar for YOG

Jamesray Michael Ajido and Riannah Chantelle Coleman and wushu
athlete Angel Polo (second to fourth from left) and coaches Jensen Halili, Ramil Ilustre
and Li Jianfang at the Istanbul Airport. POC Media Pool

The first batch of athletes of a lean Team Philippines to the Dakar 4th Youth Olympic Games touched down at dawn Thursday in the Turkish capital after a 13-hour flight from Manila.

Swimmers Jamesray Michael Ajido and Riannah Chantelle Coleman and coaches Jensen Halili and Ramil Ilustre and wushu artist Angel Polo and Chinese coach Li Jianfang were on to an eight-hour layover before boarding a flight to Dakar that will take close to nine hours.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino and secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan and chef de mission Rocky Samsom will be at the YOG Athletes Village to welcome the athletes and coaches.

Ajido and Coleman will be the flag-bearers for Team Philippines in Saturday’s Opening Ceremony, but the duo won’t be completing the ceremony to hit the sack early and be ready for the heats Sunday.

Fortunately, the Opening Ceremony venue, the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium, is just adjacent to the Athletes Village in Diamniadio town, a good 41 kms from Dakar.

Flying to Dakar also via Istanbul on Saturday are gymnastics athletes Hillarion Palles III and Tchelcy Mei Maayo and coaches Reyland Capellan and Kazutaka Hakamada, and on November 4, it will be the turn of cycling’s Maritanya Krog and coaches Mark John Lexer Galedo and Marita Lucas and athletics’ Pi Wangkay and Naomi Cesar and coach Jasper Tanhueco.