Akaho named Tissot MVP, leads FIBA Asia Cup for Women All-Star Five

The All-Star Five

Himawari Akaho was named as the Tissot MVP at the conclusion of the FIBA Asia Cup for Women on Sunday at the Prince Hamza Arena.

Akaho averaged 10.6 points, five rebounds, and 2.2 steals for Japan in the tournament, but it was her leadership and defense that shone brightest in helping the Olympic silver medalists secure their fifth straight title, namely her last-second block in the semifinal against Australia and securing the rebound off a missed triple in the final against China to help preserve the victory.

Joining her in the All-Star Five is her teammate Saori Miyazaki, who starred in the final with 26 points and eleven assists. The latter ensured she would finish the tournament as the leader in assists at 9.6 per game.

Like Japan, China also had two members make the team. Yueru Li towered over the opposition with 15.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. Sijing Huang netted 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.

Completing the quintet is Sami Whitcomb of Australia, capping off a whirlwind couple of weeks for the Opals skipper and New York Liberty star. She averaged a near-triple-double performance for the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup hosts with 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.2 assists.

Japan claims FIBA Asia Cup for Women

Saori Miyazaki

Japan claimed their fifth successive FIBA Asia Cup for Women on Sunday at the Prince Hamza Arena, fending off China, 78-73.

The Olympic silver medalists extricated themselves out of a sticky situation in the fourth quarter, scoring twelve straight points to cancel a seven-point deficit and establish a 64-59 lead with six minutes to go.

China would answer back to tie things up at 66, capped by a Sijin Huang triple with just over four minutes remaining.

From then on, it was a nip and tuck battle, with China even taking the lead at 73-72 after a Liwei Yang layup with 62 seconds left.

However, Japan took the lead for good with Saori Miyazaki finding Monica Okoye open for an and-1 layup with 44 seconds to go, putting them on top. 74-73.

Okoye would miss the bonus free throw, but more than made up for it by blocking Liwei's layup attempt with 31 seconds remaining.

China had a chance to tie the game after two Miyazaki free throws made it 76-73, but Sijin missed a triple with eight seconds left. Himawari Akaho secured the miss for her eighth rebound, with Miyazaki icing the game with two more free throws for the final score.

Miyazaki finished with 26 points and eleven assists, with Okoye adding 21 markers.

Sijing Huang led China with 18 points, while Yueru Li added sixteen and eleven rebounds.

The third place game saw Australia demolish Korea, 88-58 to secure their third straight podium finish.

Opals skipper Sami Whitcomb almost netted a triple-double with fifteen points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, with Darcee Garbin adding fourteen points.

Up next for all four nations is the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, where the field for the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup will be determined.

Japan, China set up Asia Cup Women final

China makes it to the final.

Japan and China won their respective semifinal matches at the FIBA Asia Cup for Women on Saturday, setting up an interesting final involving two titans.

Japan secured their spot with a 67-65 victory over Australia, doing so with some added drama.

The defending champions were trailing 62-56 with less than four minutes left, before a 9-0 run allowed them to take a 65-62 lead. Sami Whitcomb tied it with a three with 2:18 left, but that was the last points the Opals would score.

Himawari Akaho's bucket with 118 seconds remaining allowed the Olympics silver medalists to retake the lead, then sealed the victory with a rejection of Whitcomb's game-winning attempt with four seconds left.

Akaho finished with an all-around performance of twelve points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks. Saki Hayashi led all scorers with seventeen points.

Whitcomb finished with a team-high sixteen points, with Lauren Scherf contributing a double-double with twelve points and fifteen rebounds.

Standing in the way of Japan and a fifth straight title is China, which dispatched Korea, 93-69.

China decided to impose its will against their East Asian rivals, jumping out to a 23-9 lead and never looked back to coast their way to the finals.

Yueri Li finished with a twenty-point and twelve-rebound double-double, with Sijin Huang adding sixteen points.

Inyoung Yang led Korea with twelve points.

In the last game of the triple-header, New Zealand defeated Chinese-Taipei, 74-59, to finish in fifth place. Penina Davidson led the way for the Tall Ferns with a game-high 26 points.

UFC lands on TAP

Mixed martial arts fans need not worry in the aftermath of Disney's decision to shut down its channels in Asia.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has found a new home. This was made possible with a new partnership with TAP DMV, allowing its content to be shown on its OTT platform TAP Go, as well as its linear channel Premier Sports. Terms for the deal were not disclosed, but it is for multiple years.

The partnership will effectively commence starting October 3 with UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Walker. All in all, 42 live UFC events, including twelve in pay-per-view and thirty UFC Fight Nights will be shown both on TAP Go and Premier Sports. Other UFC-related content will also be made available, like the upcoming Dana White's Contender Series Asia, as well as UFC Countdown, UFC Connected, and archival footage.

Kevin Chang, UFC Senior Vice President - Asia, shares "The Philippines has such a long history and love for combat sports, and UFC has had a tremendous following for many years. Now, more than ever before, our partnership with TAP GO and PREMIER SPORTS will give these fans variety and accessibility to the UFC."

TAP DMV Chief Technology Officer Gonzalo de Guia adds, "We are excited to bring the Filipino UFC fan all the terrific action of the most exciting MMA organization in the world, UFC to TAP GO and PREMIER SPORTS. UFC fans are some of the most passionate and loyal fans and we plan to bring them an incredible menu of UFC content through our platforms. We can’t wait to get started."

Fight fans will be able to subscribe for the UFC with the TAP Go Premium Plus package, which is worth PhP 599 monthly. However, a special promotional deal for the month of October allows subscribers to avail of an introductory promo of PhP 1490 for three months. TAP DMV also expressed interest in crafting a UFC-specific package in the future. One can either download the app on Google Play or the Apple Store or go online at www.tapgo.tv and register.

Do check with your cable provider if the channels under the auspices of TAP DMV are available

Thirdy vs Kiefer highlight TapGo's opening B League coverage

 

TAP DMV is set to kick off its B League coverage this weekend, highlighted by the historic first meeting of Ravena siblings.

Thirdy's San-En NeoPhoenix visit Kiefer's Shiga Lakestars in their respective season openers is one of 51 games that TAP DMV will showcase on both their OTT platform TAP Go, as well as on its cable channels.

TAP already showed the league opener on Thursday between Ryukyu Golden Kings and Alvark Tokyo at the Okinawa Arena, and they have plans on showing as much of the games involving our eight Filipino players currently signed by the league.

Six Pinoys are with B1 teams, including historic barrier-breaker Thirdy, and Kiefer. Bobby Ray Parks, Jr., the only other player aside from Kiefer who has PBA experience, is with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins, while former University of the Philippines standouts Kobe Paras and Javi Gomez de Liano are with Niigata Albirex BB and Ibaraki Robots, respectively. Completing the six is Dwight Ramos, the Gilas standout snapped up by the Toyama Grouses.

Two more Filipinos are in B2, with Javi's younger brother Juan in Earth Friends Tokyo Z and Kemark Carino departing from San Beda to join Aomori Wat's.

Kiefer shared his thoughts to philstar.com about his upcoming debut, "I am looking forward to playing against my brother and getting that first win for the Shiga Lakestars." He adds, "I am doing well here in Japan in the city of Otsu in the prefecture of Shiga. The transition is easy and it’s a cool, and fun place to be. The people are very polite people -- kahit sino ma meet mo."

When asked about what to expect from the Lakestars this coming season, the Phenom notes that they are a "young team full of promise," citing team captain Teppeo Kashiwagura, Shotaro Hayashi, and Reon Shibuta as the other guys to check out on the side.

Kiefer summed things up with, "I am excited to be a part of a professional team that represents the city of Shiga. Hopefully, we can get a win against my brother’s team."

Make sure to check out TAP Go's social media platforms for more details about what to watch in the coming B League season. The app is already available on both the Apple Store and Google Play, and do check with your cable provider regarding the TAP DMV channels.

Korea, Australia complete FIBA Asia Cup for Women semifinal cast

Sami Whitcomb

After suffering setbacks against fellow title contenders on Wednesday, both Korea and Australia won their respective FIBA Asia Cup for Women quarterfinal matchups on Thursday.

Korea needed a triple from Hyejin Park with a minute remaining to fend off Chinese-Taipei, eventually snapping up a 80-74 victory.

Park would finish with a team-high 22 points on 5/7 shooting from three. Leeseul Kang added three triples on her way to fifteen points.

Chinese-Taipei had managed to remain within striking distance for most of the game, but was unable to move past the multiple-time former champions. Hsiao-Tong Peng led the team with eighteen points.

The other quarterfinal matchup saw Australia defeat New Zealand, 72-61.

New York Liberty sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb sizzled with 29 points on 4/7 from three-point distance. The Opals skipper also made 11/13 free throws, grabbed seven boards, and dished six dimes. Lauren Marie Scherf and Darcee Garbin had thirteen and ten points, respectively.

Charlisse Leger-Walker led the Tall Ferns with seventeen points.

The quarterfinal results also officially complete FIBA-Asia's contingent in the FIBA Women's World Cup, joining fellow Asia Cup semifinalists Japan and China.

Semifinal action is slated Saturday.

Gilas Women earn Division A stay

Gilas Women staying in Division A

The Philippines is set to depart from Jordan on a winning note, holding on to a 74-70 victory over India in the seventh-place game at the FIBA Asia Cup for Women.

Janine Pontejos and Khate Castillo took over for the Gilas Women late Thursday, each torching the net for 22 points.

With the Philippines struggling to find an offensive contributor early on, Pontejos carried the team on her back, scoring their first eight points.

Castillo then took over in the second half with her sniping from deep, allowing the Pat Aquino-coached side to have a large enough cushion to fend off a late comeback from the South Asian side.

"Just so happy. I'm very, very happy with the girls. They didn't stop competing," Aquino shared post-match. "I know for the past three games, we were struggling, definitely. But today, I know they played together, and as a team. Good victory for us."

The mentor and Gilas Women program director also credited the Filipino fans who flocked to the Prince Hamza Arena all tournament long.

"The fans are very special everywhere we go," he shares, adding "There are lots of Filipinos around the world and the fans always come out and support us. They really supported our athletes and our journey here and without them, we probably would not have been as lucky as we were today. We are so happy and would like to say thank you to everyone who supported us."

Pushpa Senthil Kumar led India with fifteen points.

By securing the victory, the Philippines locked up another stint in Division A for a couple more years. India drops down to Division B, to be replaced by that group's winner when they play later this year.