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.

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.

Coleman also named as Philippines flag-bearer at YOG

As shared by the POC/PSC

THE Philippines will have not just one, but two flag-bearers—Jamesray Mishael Ajido and fellow swimmer Riannah Chantelle Coleman—during the parade of athletes in the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth Youth Olympic Games (YOG) on October 31 in Dakar.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been advocating on a male and female athlete to bear their countries’ colors during the ceremony.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino has earlier named Ajido as the lone flag-bearer and added Coleman because both athletes will be in Senegal in time for the opening ceremony at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio.

Joining Ajido and Coleman on an arduous 29-hour flight from Manila via Istanbul to Dakar on Wednesday night is wushu athlete Angel Polo and their coaches.

The other athletes—artistic gymnastics’ Tchelzy Maayo and Hillarion Palles III, cycling’s Maritanya Krog, athletics’ Pi Durden Wangkay and Naomi Marjorie Caesar and windsurfing’s Jade Justine Justiniane will be flying to Dakar on November 4.

Macalalag, McAlary named as Press Corps UAAP Players of the Week

c/o UAAP Media Team

De La Salle University played mostly without star guard Jacob Cortez in its two assignments this week in the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball tournament. Fortunately for the Green Archers, JC Macalalag was more than ready to pick up the slack.

La Salle opened the second round with back-to-back victories, thanks largely to Macalalag, who was named the latest Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week for the period of October 21 to 25.

Against a resurgent University of the East on Wednesday, Macalalag steered the Taft squad to a gritty 97-88 overtime victory, pouring in 14 points on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting clip.

He also chipped in two rebounds and a steal as the defending champions snapped a two-game losing streak.

On Sunday at the Blue Eagle Gym, the dependable forward came through with the best scoring night of his career, putting up 28 points to steer La Salle to a 92-80 win over University of Santo Tomas.

“We’re happy with the win, and we’re thankful that we all stepped up and followed the game plan. I’m thankful for my teammates and coaches for trusting me,” Macalalag said in Filipino after adding three rebounds and three assists to his career-best scoring performance.

The breakout performances earned Macalalag the weekly citation as La Salle improved to 5-4. He edged fellow Green Archers Joaquin Tovera and Doy Dungo, UP’s Veejay Pre, NU’s Tebol Garcia and Ateneo’s Kieffer Alas in the voting among print and online journalists covering the UAAP beat.

Over in the women’s division, UST’s Erinn McAlary took the weekly honors after playing a key role in the Growling Tigresses’ first-round sweep.

The second-year Filipino-Australian showcased her all-around game against the Lady Archers on Wednesday, tallying nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

McAlary sustained her strong play in a tight matchup against the University of the Philippines, recording a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, along with three steals, two assists and a block.

“I think that we all just really did a good job of staying together and staying focused in the game. We were down by halftime, but I feel like we all just had each other’s backs and everyone was stepping up,” McAlary said.

“I feel like we just came together more throughout the game, so it was really a team effort,” she added.

McAlary prevailed over fellow Growling Tigresses Brigette Santos and Karylle Sierba, FEU’s Victoria Pasilang and UP’s Camille Nolasco for the women’s weekly citation.

UST is set for a quick rematch with UP on Wednesday, October 28, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum as the second round of the women’s preliminaries gets underway.

Meanwhile, Macalalag and the Green Archers return to the Big Dome on October 31 for another chapter of their rivalry with Ateneo.