Manila to host International Premier Tennis League opening leg

From L-R: PSC Commissioner Salvador Andrada, IPTL COO Eric M. Gottschalk, PSC Chairman Ricardo Garcia, Philippine Tennis Association President Edwin L. Olivarez, IPTL founder and Indian tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi, and Philippine Tennis Association VP Randy Villanueva

The newest tennis spectacle will be making its way to Manila later this year.

The International Premier Tennis League on Thursday officially announced the participation of the Manila Mavericks in a press conference at the EDSA Shangri-La Garden Ballroom.

To be played at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum on November 28-30, the Manila Mavericks will be composed of current world number 10 Andy Murray and world number 15 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 5th ranked doubles player Daniel Nestor, tennis legend Carlos Moya and Filipino doubles specialist Treat Huey.

The ladies contingent is composed of 6th-ranked Maria Sharapova and 47th-ranked Kirsten Flipkens.

Organizers, led by IPTL COO Eric Gottschalk assured fans that Sharapova, Murray and top-ranked Serena Williams (representing Singapore Slammers) will be playing in the Manila leg. He also adds that they are here to promote the sport in Asia, and to bring world-class tennis to Filipinos.

Other than Singapore, the other teams that will participate in the initial season are Dubai (as the UAE Royals) and Delhi (as the Indian Aces), with their legs scheduled to take place in December.

The Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Tennis Assocation were also present at the press conference, with both sides happy with the event.

PSC President Richie Garcia congratulated the IPTL and added that The Big Dome would be the ideal venue to host the opening leg, given its 15,000 seating capacity and its pedigree of hosting major sporting events. He adds that Filipinos have a passion for sports and the IPTL, as a major international tennis competition, adds to their sporting portfolio which includes basketball, boxing and football.

PhilTA President Edwin Olivarez believes that having the IPTL and some of the world's best players, will encourage the development of the sport in the country, as it would encourage more players to take up the sport. The Paranaque mayor is also happy to see Huey's participation, as it allows local fans to finally see him live in action at a home event. The NSA, he adds, "happily extends its full support to the team owners and organizers."

To add, PhilTA VP Randy Villanueva says there will be local activities that will be undertaken to help with the promotion of the event, including an IPTL-style competition between the top colleges and universities.

Tickets for the event will be released in August, with TicketNet handling the distribution. Gottschalk adds that they are looking into making this accessible to as many fans as possible.


The IPTL is the brainchild of Mahesh Bhupathi, who was inspired with the innovations of the Indian Premier League in cricket and sees the tournament as capable of providing something different in tennis.

With the motto, "Break the Code," the IPTL tinkers with the conventional tennis rules, among them being a single-set no-add scoring, as well as the chance for players to call "time outs" during games, the concept of a "power point" and the use of "shoot outs" to determining winners. These innovations allow broadcasters to be able to schedule their telecasts accordingly.

The winner team in the competition will be rewarded with $1M.

Chot Reyes on Larry Fonacier's withdrawal

"It is with deep sadness that we have to accept Larry Fonacier's request to beg off from the Gilas pool for the meantime.

Unknown to many, Larry has been playing through a variety of foot and back injuries that have bothered him the past 2 years; and it is only his great dedication that has prevented him from taking any time off. However, the rigors of playing almost non-stop in the PBA and national team for the past 3 years has taken its toll, leaving Larry with no recourse but to accede to his doctors orders for complete rest & rehabilitation.

We will definitely miss Larry's quiet leadership and unyielding heart."

The TNT swingman averaged 5.3 pts, 1.7 rebs and 1.2 assists at the FIBA-Asia Men's Championships last year, highlighted by his 21-point outburst against Chinese-Taipei.

NBA statement on #GilasLastHomeStand

Under the terms of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement, players are allowed to participate in offseason basketball games or exhibitions when requirements for those events are met, including ensuring that appropriate safeguards be in place, and the promoter seeks the proper exemptions from the NBA and the player’s team. The promoter of this proposed event, East-West Private LLC, was informed of this process several months ago but did not take the required steps. Filipinos are among the most passionate basketball fans in the world and we are committed to bringing them more access to our game and supporting the ongoing Typhoon Haiyan rehabilitation efforts.

PLDT Statement on #GilasLastHomeStand and Refund guidelines

This was posted on PLDT HOME's Facebook page.

PLDT has announced that The Last Home Stand basketball event between Gilas Pilipinas and the Fibr All-Stars scheduled for tomorrow, July 23, is cancelled.

"We wish to apologize to our Filipino basketball fans for the sudden and disappointing turn of events today. We ourselves are extremely disappointed by this unexpected development. All we wanted was to give our Filipino basketball fans a real treat while at the same time, through this benefit event, help our countrymen who are still recovering from Supertyphoon Yolanda and more recently Typhoon Glenda," PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

PLDT Executive Vice President Ariel Fermin assured ticket holders for events today and tomorrow will be refunded in full in an expeditious manner. Fermin said those seeking a refund may send the following information: 1) Full name; 2) ticket number; 3) contact number; and 4) email address either by text message to 0919 614 0865 or email to RefundIGW@gmail.com.

The ten-digit ticket number can be found at left portion of the ticket, below the seat number.

Fermin said that the agreement with the event organizer, IGW -- whose role it was to arrange the participation of the NBA players -- provided for a format involving a basketball clinic followed by a 5-on-5 game between Gilas Pilipinas and the Fibr All-Stars. However, PLDT was informed by IGW a few hours before the event today, July 22, that the 5-on-5 game was, as advised by IGW to PLDT, not allowed by the NBA.

They also provided a hotline that will be used starting tomorrow morning at 9am for inquiries, as tweeted here by ABS-CBN's TJ Manotoc.

#GilasLastHomeStand refund hotline numbers 836-5318, 836-5319, & 836-5890 http://t.co/MPzVtpGixm pic.twitter.com/aN3lYKSBOs
— TJ Manotoc (@tjmanotoc) July 22, 2014

The Last HOME Stand is coming today and tomorrow.

Five of the Fibr All-Stars with Chot Reyes and PLDT EVP and head of HOME business Ariel Fermin
The five All-Stars (L-R): Kawhi Leonard, Brandon Jennings, Terrence Ross, Kyle Lowry & DeMar DeRozan

Serving a two-pronged thrust, twelve NBA players make their way to Manila for the Last HOME Stand on July 22 & 23.

One objective is to help with the national team's preparations for the upcoming FIBA World Cup. The other is to raise funds for charity, specifically, the Philippine Disaster Recovery Fund, Caritas Manila and the MVP Sports Foundation.

Seven of the twelve players were present in the press conference held on Monday afternoon, the five players on the photo above, Damian Lillard, and James Harden. Still to arrive are Blake Griffin, Ed Davis, Tyson Chandler, Paul George and Nick Johnson. Also at the press conference was John Lucas.

Chot Reyes says that the Gilas Pilipinas is honored to play alongside the Fibr All-Stars, and that they are excited and challenged by what they can learn from playing against them.

Sports-related announcements re: #GlendaPH

Typhoon Rammasun, known locally as Glenda, is expected to make landfall on Tuesday afternoon, and will leave the PAR by late Thursday.

Local sporting events are going to be affected by the presence of Glenda. It has already resulted in the postponement of one sporting event.

The Philippine Superliga matches scheduled at the Cuneta Astrodome on Wednesday afternoon has been postponed by the league, which highlights the semifinals matchup of Generika-Army & AirAsia.

The league will adjust its schedule, but maintains its championship will take place on July 26.

Meanwhile, the collegiate sporting leagues have both announced that any decision regarding match postponements for men's basketball, women's basketball (for UAAP) and juniors' basketball (for NCAA) will be made tomorrow morning. The NCAA, specifically, gave themselves an 8am time frame to make the call. The UAAP will make their call early tomorrow.

We will share the announcements when it is made available.

UAAP Season 77 schedule for women's basketball in the first round

Here is the Season 77 schedule for collegiate women's basketball. All games will be played at the Blue Eagle Gym.

July 13:

9am - FEU vs UE
11am - NU vs Adamson
1pm - UP vs Ateneo
3pm - La Salle vs UST

July 16:

9am - UP vs NU
11am - La Salle vs FEU
1pm - UST vs UE
3pm - Ateneo vs Adamson

July 19:

9am - Adamson vs La Salle
11am - UE vs UP
1pm - NU vs UST
3pm - FEU vs Ateneo

July 24:

9am - UE vs NU
11am - Ateneo vs UST
1pm - UP vs La Salle
3pm - Adamson vs FEU

July 27:

9am - UST vs FEU
11am - NU vs Ateneo
1pm - La Salle vs UE
3pm - UP vs Adamson

August 3:

9am - Adamson vs UE
11am - UP vs UST
1pm - Ateneo vs La Salle
3pm - FEU vs NU

August 10:

9am - FEU vs UP
11am - UST vs Adamson
1pm - NU vs La Salle
3pm - UE vs Ateneo

Simplifying the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final

Here is a handy infographic from the Agence France Presse on the FIFA World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina, which will take place early Monday morning, Manila time.

UAAP Season 77 schedule for men's basketball in the first round

July 12 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

12nn - Opening Ceremonies
2pm - UE vs UP
4pm - La Salle vs FEU

July 13 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - Ateneo vs Adamson
4pm - NU vs UST

July 16 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

2pm - UST vs UE
4pm - Adamson vs FEU

July 19 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - NU vs UP
4pm - Adamson vs UE

July 20 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

11am - La Salle vs Ateneo
4pm - UST vs FEU

July 23 at the Mall of Asia Arena

2pm - Ateneo vs UP
4pm - NU vs La Salle

July 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

2pm - UST vs Adamson
4pm - Ateneo vs NU

July 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

2pm - UP vs FEU
4pm - UE vs La Salle

July 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

2pm - FEU vs UE
4pm - Adamson vs NU

August 2 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - UP vs UST
4pm - La Salle vs Adamson

August 3 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - NU vs UE
4pm - FEU vs Ateneo

August 6 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - UP vs La Salle
4pm - Ateneo vs UST

August 9 at the Mall of Asia Arena

2pm - Adamson vs UP
4pm - NU vs FEU

August 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena

2pm - UE vs Ateneo
4pm - La Salle vs UST

Philippine schedule in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup

First Round schedule:

Philippines vs Chinese-Taipei: July 12, 2:45pm
Philippines vs Singapore: July 14, 2:45pm
Jordan vs Philippines: July 15, 5:15pm

With the withdrawal of Uzbekistan from the competition, all four teams in Group B will advance into the quarterfinals, which will take place on July 17 (either at 12:30pm, 2:45pm, 5:15pm and 7:30pm).

The winners will play in the semifinals, which will take place on July 18 (either at 5:15pm and 7:30pm). The winners in that one will play in the finals, which will take place at 7:30pm on July 19.

Do note that Sports5 will be showing the Gilas Pilipinas games.

Whoever comes out on the top of the FIBA Asia Cup will have an automatic slot in the next FIBA-Asia Championship. Although, for the Philippines, Iran, and South Korea, this is a chance to work on things in time for their FIBA World Cup campaign.

Floyd Mayweather's next fight

By the simplicity of an app, Floyd Mayweather has officially revealed his next opponent. This is what he posted.



We'll have to wait for a while for that PacMan-Floyd slugfest.

Statement from Globalport re: Draft Lottery

We are happy that the issue regarding the draft lottery has been put to rest together with a bright promise for improvements and changes in its process.

We would like to thank the PBA Board of Governors for the early resolution of this incident, and acknowledge the efforts of the Rain or Shine franchise to be one with the Board in solidifying the integrity of the league.

We are very excited for this coming 2014 Draft which boasts of the country’s best and brightest talents and future basketball superstars.

The GlobalPort franchise has the honor of choosing this year’s number one pick, we vow to choose wisely, not only to make our team better but to provide you, our fans, PBA fans, the best that professional basketball has to offer.