Philippine News

October 19 ------ Erik Spoelstra is expected to be named as the new head coach of the United States men’s national basketball team, ESPN reported. The Miami Heat coach will succeed Steve Kerr for the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. Spoelstra, 54, joined Mark Few and Tyronn Lue as assistants on the Americans’ gold-medal winning squad at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Spoelstra — who traces his roots to San Pablo, Laguna in the Philippines — has guided the Heat to two NB

MANILA, Philippines, October 18 ------ Chezka Centeno became the second player to win the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship twice after defeating Rubilen Amit, 4-1, 2-4, 4-2, 3-4, 4-2, recently in Bali, Indonesia. Centeno battled her way through the loser’s bracket before edging out her friend and mentor to repeat the title run she pulled off two years ago in Austria. The 26-year-old defeated Amit, who was the first cue artist to rule the competition twice back in 2009 in Qu

OSAKA, Japan, October 18 ------ Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Japan Open ahead of her quarterfinal after the four-time Grand Slam champion failed to recover from a leg injury. The former World No. 1 was tearful after struggling through her last-16 match against defending champion Suzan Lamens in Osaka. Top seed Osaka, who turned 28 this week, was supposed to face Romania's Jaqueline Cristian in the last eight. "We regret to announce that Naomi Osaka has not recovered from a l

MANILA, Philippines, October 17 ------ Team Asia got its Reyes Cup title defense to a smashing start after building a commanding 4-0 lead over Team Rest of the World at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. From singles to doubles to team duels, the quintet of Filipinos Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, AJ Manas, Singaporean Aloysius Yapp, and Vietnamese Duong Quoc Hoang were simply superior as they swept the opening-day matches to gain headway in the race-to-11 contest. The Asians swiftly took

MANILA, Philippines, October 17 ------ After an unconventional start to her PVL career, 2025 top overall pick Bella Belen finally has a pro league win in her bag as the Capital1 Solar Spikers downed the Nxled Chameleons in four sets, 25-20, 23-25, 27-25, 25-12, at the Araneta Coliseum. The young UAAP legend out of National University tallied 15 points and 14 excellent digs to support Ukrainian import Sasha Bytsenko’s season-high 39-point explosion, as Capital1 got into the 20

October 17 ------ AJ Edu emerged victorious in his battle with Gilas Pilipinas teammate Dwight Ramos when their respective teams met in the 2025-26 Japan B.League season. Edu commanded the defense in the Gunma Crane Thunders' 99-72 home win over the Levanga Hokkaido at Openhouse Arena Ota, finishing with six points, nine rebounds, six assists, and two blocks to push his team's record up to 3-2. Ramos only had six points and two assists, as Hokkaido slipped to 3-2. Ray Parks w

October 17 ------ Former MVP Russell Westbrook is joining the Sacramento Kings, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the deal. Westbrook's agent, Jeff Schwartz, confirmed the deal to ESPN earlier Wednesday. Schwartz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP. The 36-year-old Westbrook is entering his 18th season in the league. He's the all-time leader

MANILA, Philippines, October 16 ------ Well-rested Barangay Ginebra stomped rival TNT down a huge first-half hole before hanging on to a 92-77 blowout breakthrough win in the 2025-2026 PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Ten days after their lackluster Manila Clasico conference debut against another rival in Magnolia, the Gin Kings this time fired on all cylinders, led by their big-man battalion of Japeth Aguilar, Troy Rosario, and Norbert Torres to mount a 24-point l

October 16 ------ The Philippine Girls Under-17 National Team moved one step closer to securing a berth in the 2026 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup after edging host nation Tajikistan, 2-0 in the qualification tournament at Pamir Stadium in Dushanbe. The win kept the Philippines atop Group A with six points after back-to-back victories and a +7 goal difference. Malaysia sits in second place after a 1-0 triumph over Syria earlier in the day, matching the Filipinas on points but tra

MILWAUKEE, October 16 ------ Relying on an old-school pitching strategy has the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers two wins from returning to the Fall Classic. As long as their star-studded rotation can continue working deep into games, they don’t need to worry about their inconsistent bullpen. Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a three-hitter for the first postseason complete game in eight years as the Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1 to extend their lead in th

MANILA, Philippines, October 16 ------ Carl Tamayo and the defending champions Changwon LG Sakers pushed their winning streak to three in the Korean Basketball League (KBL). Tamayo continued his stellar play as Changwon swept its weekend games against the Goyang Sono Skygunners and Suwon KT Sonicboom. Tamayo recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds against Kevin Quiambao and the Skygunners to power the LG Sakers to an 80-74 win on Friday. He followed that up wi

MANILA, Philippines, October 15 ------ The top PVL rivarly gets another thrilling chapter as reigning PVL Reinforced Conference champion Creamline edged Petro Gazz in a back-and-forth four-set win, 25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, at the Araneta Coliseum. After bowing to Akari for the first time in PVL history last Saturday, October 11, the mighty Cool Smashers climbed their way up the Pool B win column at 1-1, now the same as the Angels, though with a slight advantage in points,

October 15 ------ ALEX Eala’s struggles in her Asian run continued after bowing out in the opening round of the WTA 250 Kinshita Group Japan Open following a 6-1, 6-3, loss to teenager Tereza Valentova in Osaka. The Czech juniors standout came out of the gates firing, taking the first four games of the first set, before breaking Eala in the final game to take a breezy 6-1 set, where she broke Eala thrice in the match. With momentum on her side, the 18-year-old confidently pou

October 15 ------ BJORN Kristensen rescued the Philippines in the second half with the go-ahead goal to repulse Timor-Leste, 3-1 in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers final round at the New Clark City Stadium in Capas, Tarlac. Kristensen broke the deadlock with a short blast inside the box from a pass by Jesper Nyholm in the 70th minute to salvage the victory after conceding the first goal in the Philippines’ final home match of the Asian Cup qualifiers. The Filipino striker w

October 15 ------ RONDAE Hollis-Jefferson embraces heightened expectations as he joins forces with Justin Brownlee at Meralco for the coming EASL season. Hollis-Jefferson is in the Philippines for a couple of days now along fellow import Ismael Romero to start getting acclimated with the Bolts before their opening game in the EASL on October 22 against the Ryukyu Golden Kings in Okinawa, Japan. The high expectations are merited, said Hollis-Jefferson. “I agree with them,” sai

MANILA, Philippines, October 14 ------ No import, no problem for the Choco Mucho Flying Titans. Despite missing American reinforcement Anyse Smith, Choco Mucho grabbed its first win of the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference at the expense of the Cignal Super Spikers, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 27-25 at the Araneta Coliseum. The Flying Titans played without Smith to officially start the tournament as her papers were still pending before the game began. Maddie Madayag led Choco Mucho wit

October 14 ------ French Open champion Coco Gauff captured her third WTA 1000 title and first in Wuhan after rallying from two breaks down in the second set to defeat fellow American Jessica Pegula, 6-4, 7-5, in the final. Gauff, who reached the Wuhan semifinals last year, trailed 0-3 in the second set but clawed her way back, reducing the deficit to 3-5 before winning four straight games to seal victory in straight sets. The 21-year-old secured her 11th career WTA singles ti

October 14 ------ DWIGHT Ramos was pivotal in Levanga Hokkaido's weekend sweep of Hiroshima Dragonflies at Hiroshima Sun Plaza as they move near the top of the 2025-26 Japan B.League standings. The Gilas Pilipinas guard had seven points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks in a 94-73 win and did even better in a 98-97 notching 14 points, five assists, three rebounds, and one steal. His play allowed Hokkaido to ascend to a 3-1 record and a place at the upper

MANILA, Philippines, October 14 ------ In just a year after picking up a racket for the first time, Hayb Anzures has become one of the most influential figures in Philippine tennis, championing the sport’s revival through the staging of the inaugural Gentry Open Tennis Championships in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. “For just one year into tennis, the feeling and excitement are different compared to when I play basketball, football, or golf. The tennis community is so vibrant a

MANILA, Philippines, October 13 ------ For the second time in three years, Chezka Centeno reigns as the world 10-ball queen. Centeno...