ONE Championship Announces Two December Events Broadcast Live from Singapore Indoor Stadium

 

ONE Championship on Monday announced two more cards that will kick off December action at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Slated on December 4 is ONE: BIG BANG, which will feature Roman Kryklia defending his ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title against Murat Aygun in the main event.

The co-main event has a match-up of two Top-5 featherweights in third-ranked Koyomi Matsushima against fifth-ranked Gary Tonon.

The card also features a couple of Pinoys, with Danny Kingad against former ONE World Champion Kairat Akhmetov in a matchup of two Top-3 flyweight contenders, as well as Jomary Torres facing off against one of ONE Championship's rising stars in Ritu Phogat.

The rest of the card features some ONE Championship debutants, as Marat Grigorian and Ivan Kondratev face-off in a ONE Super Series featherweight kickboxing affair, whilst Amir Aliakbari also set to make his ONE debut in a heavyweight matchup against Islam Abasov.

The second confirmed ONE Championship event will be on December 18. Called ONE: COLLISION COURSE, its main event features a couple of Thais, as legend Nong-O Gaiyanghadao defends his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship against 2nd-ranked Rodlek PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym, who also happens to be the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai Tournament winner. 

Its co-main event features former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov moving up to the lightweight division against Lowen Tynanes.

The rest of the card features these mixed martial arts matchups:

A bantamweight duel between Yusup Saadulaev against Troy Worthen.

A lightweight face-off between hometown bet Amir Khan against ONE Warrior Series contract winner Dae Sung Park.

Xie Wie facing Kun Khmer striking stylis Chan Rothana in the flyweight division.

A welterweight matchup involving Raimond Magomedaliev against Edson Marques.

Both events are part of the partnership ONE Championship has with the Singapore government, as they continue in striving to get things as close to pre-pandemic levels. 

Fans will be permitted to attend the event in-person, through ticket packages worth SGD $188 (just over PhP 6700). These "Superfan" ticket packages, which are available via Ticketmaster.sg, come with socially distant seating and exclusive ONE merchandise. Buyers will need to undergo the Antigen Rapid Test on the day itself, and will need to secure valid negative ART certification before being granted entry.

Otherwise, these events will be shown via Cignal TV's ONE Sports (and on a delayed basis on TV5) as well as through the ONE Super App. 

Manila Chooks TM falls short in Doha Masters

Manila Chooks TM's participation in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour ended prematurely, as they lost both of their games on Friday in the Doha Masters.

The Al-Gharafa Sports Complex bare witness to the Filipino quartet losing its first match against top-ranked Liman, 15-22, then followed that up with a 14-19 defeat to Lusail.

In the first matchup, Liman had to withstand a late comeback anchored by Joshua Munzon to secure its spot in the next round. Munzon whittled Manila's deficit from 5-12 to 13-14 with just over four minutes left, but Mihailo Vasic and Stefan Kojic did their part to close things out for the Serbian side. Both players finished with seven points each in the victory.

With Liman beating Lusail earlier in the day, 21-8, the matchup between the hosts and Manila turned into a virtual knockout affair.

The home side rode on the broad shoulders of Souley Ndour against the Pinoys, finishing with ten points and seven rebounds as he helped make things difficult down low.

Manila Chooks TM had difficulty dealing with Lusail's length, with the 6'10 Ndour complemented by 6'7" Ousseynou Mbow, 6'6" Kostas Vasileiadis, and 6'5 Hamza Maher.

Munzon finished with a total of 19 points in both matches, but the rest of the team struggled offensively.

Alvin Pasaol netted a total of six points, while Leonard Santillan finished with a combined total of four points and Troy Rike netted a couple of markers in both games.

The knockout playoffs of the event that has US$40,000 waiting for the champion begins at 9:15PM (Manila time). It will air on FIBA 3x3's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Manila Chooks TM pooled with Liman, Lusail in Doha Masters

Manila Chooks TM's Alvin Pasaol, Santi Santillan, Troy Rike, and Joshua Munzon meet with FIBA 3x3 Competition Manager Nicolas Widmer and 3×3 Events and Partners Associate Valentina Mattioli during the technical meeting at Marriott Doha Tuesday evening.

The Doha Masters will feature a familiar matchup for Manila Chooks TM in pool play.

The Filipino quartet has been assigned to Pool A alongside Liman and Lusail.

Basketball fans will remember that Pasig Chooks defeated Liman in pool play in last year's edition of the Doha Masters, 19-16. That Pasig quartet featured current Manila Chooks TM's Joshua Munzon with Troy Rike listed as a reserve. Liman eventually made it to the knockout rounds, defeating Balanga Chooks in the quarterfinals, 21-9. That Balanga quartet featured current Manila Chooks TM's Alvin Pasaol and Leonard Santillan.

The two Chooks teams finished fifth and sixth place, respectively.

Munzon and Rike are ready for another crack against the top FIBA 3x3 club side when action takes place at the Al-Gharafa Sports Complex. The former shares, "It’s definitely going to be a test for us to square against those European teams but you know I think we’re ready mentally, physically. I think we’re ready as we can be and we’ll see how things go. I am confident with my team. We’re ready to get after it."

The latter adds, "We have played more recently than probably most of the other teams here. We’re kinda still in game mode and team mode heading right into that." Manila Chooks TM is fresh from participation in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 President's Cup powered by TM in late October, where they won three out of four legs and the Grand Final.

Liman will feature 2017 3x3 World Tour MVP Stefan Stojacic, Stefan Kojic, Mihailo Vasic, and Aleksandar Ratkov. They will face off at 11:55pm Manila time.

Home side Lusail will field Vasileiadis Kostantinos, Ousseynou Mbow, Mame Ndour, and Hamza Radi. They will face off at 1:35am Manila time.

The top two teams in Pool A will face off against the top two of Pool C in the crossover quarterfinals the next day. Pool C is composed of NY Harlem, Lausanne, and Utena.

Manila Chooks TM is expected to hold its first in-venue practice on Wednesday, as they aspire for the $40,000 prize for the champion.

Manila Chooks TM hold first practice in Doha

Manila Chooks TM at the Al-Gharafa Sports Complex.

Manila Chooks TM finally got a chance to work on their game on court at the Al-Gharafa Sports Complex on Wednesday, where coronavirus protocols reigned supreme.

Strict measures were put into place by organizers, with the competition scheduled to take place in a couple of days. Among those is the inability to cross train with other teams, something Manila Chooks in its previous iterations as Pasig Chooks and Balanga Chooks were able to do last year.

Conditions were sizzling, as expected with the competition taking place in the Middle East. Skipper Alvin Pasaol shares, "Sobrang init," with the temperatures during their training session reaching a high of 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Even with the conditions as they are, the team remains confident that will impress in Doha for the Masters event.

Pasaol says, "Siguro nasa eighty-percent kami ngayon. Maganda naman yung practice kanina kasi nagawa naman namin yung gusto namin."

He adds, "By Friday, ready na kami."

The team is grouped alongside top-ranked Liman and hosts Lusail and will face off late Friday.

NBA reveals schedule tweaks to 2020-21 season

With the NBA set to get things going officially next month, the league released on Wednesday an update on its schedule.

In contrast to its traditional format, the league will play just 72 games this season, ten fewer than the customary 82-game schedule. The breakdown goes as follows, based from their release:

Each team will play three games against each intraconference opponent (42 total games per team), with each pairing featuring either two home games and one road game or one home game and two road games.  Within each team’s division, the league office has randomly assigned which two opponents will be played twice at home and which two opponents will be played twice on the road.

All five teams from within a division will play all five teams from one other intraconference division twice at home, and all five teams from the remaining intraconference division twice on the road. 

Each team will play two games against each interconference opponent (30 total games per team), with each pairing featuring one home game and one road game.

The NBA has also integrated an "All-Star break" between March 5-10, 2021, which splits the regular season into two halves. The Second Half will integrate games potentially postponed that were slotted into the First Half schedule. The league will release the First Half schedule in early December during the start of training camp, with the Second Half to be announced later during the campaign.

Another tweak to the upcoming season is the return of the "Play-In Tournament." Introduced last season in the bubble, the upcoming edition has been altered to involved teams with the seventh to tenth-best winning percentages in each conference full stop. This is different from the previous instance, which needed an additional criteria to invoke the play-in. 

The 2020-21 Play-In Tournament format for each conference is as follows:

Teams with the seventh and eighth-best records will have a playoff to determine the seventh seed, which they will call the Seven-Eight Game. The ninth and tenth-best records will have their own matchup, called the Nine-Ten Game.

The winner of the Seven-Eight Game secures the seventh seed. The loser will face the winner of the Nine-Ten Game for the right to be the eighth seed.

Teams with the better record coming into the Play-In Tournament will be playing in their home venue during this short stretch. 

The full specifics on the league's 2020-21 schedule can be broken down as follows:

December 11-19, 2020: NBA Preseason

December 22, 2020 to March 4, 2021: First Half of the Regular Season

March 5-10, 2021: All-Star Break

March 11 - May 16, 2021: Second Half of Regular Season

May 18-21, 2021: Play-In Tournament

May 22 - July 22, 2021: NBA Playoffs

Manila Chooks TM test negative in PCR test

They got the all-clear.

Manila Chooks TM underwent the RT-PCR testing that is needed before they can proceed in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters.

The quartet of Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Troy Rike, and Leonard Santillan, as well as photographer Jerome Ascano received the good news at 2pm local time via text.

All fourteen teams participating in the tournament will have to undergo such testing before they are cleared to participate.

Even with the negative result, protocols will only allow them to remain within the confines of their hotel as of Wednesday, based on Qatari legislation. They are allowed to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. Once cleared, the only place they can go outside of the hotel is the Al Gharafa Sports Complex, which is just over twelve kilometers away.

As such, Pasaol shares, "Hindi pa rin makalabas kaya review muna ng video at exercise muna rito sa kwarto."

Santillan adds, "Okay lang naman sa amin 'yun kasi business trip naman talaga ito."

US $40,000 is up for grabs for the champion of this tournament, with 30,000 for the runner-up, 20,000 for third, 12,000 for fourth and 6,000 for fifth.

Liman is expected to be the favorites to claim the title, with the likes of Riga, NY Harlem and Princeton, and Lausanne providing some competition.

Manila Chooks TM await PCR test results

Seeking to rekindle their success last year, Manila Chooks TM arrived in Doha on Monday morning for the upcoming FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters.

The quartet of Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Troy Rike, and Leonard Santillan arrived at the Hamad International Airport at 423am local time. Joining them in the tournament is photographer Jerome Ascano.

Upon landing, they were all asked to download Qatar's contract-tracing app as well as take a RT-PCR test. They were then transported to their hotel to observe quarantine until the results are available.

Whilst waiting, the team will continue their preparations through video study.

Pasaol shares, "Review muna kami dito sa rooms namin. At least nakakapag-ready kami kahit hindi pa kami makapag-ensayo rito."

Scheduled to take place on November 20 and 21 at the Al Gharafa Sports Complex, the Doha Masters has a US$40,000 top prize, and will have fourteen teams vying for it.

Considered as the favorites for this tourney is Liman, with the likes of Riga, NY Harlem, Princeton being their biggest hurdles.