TEAM PILIPINAS: 3 GREAT WINS FOR A GREAT SPORTS NIGHT

Good things indeed come in threes.

Filipino sports fans was in for a treat tonight - with not one, not two but three great wins tonight from 3 different Philippine teams in 3 different sports.

The first win was scored by the Philippine National Women's Volleyball team when they sweep their first group match versus Hong Kong in the AVC Senior Women's Volleyball Championship at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna. The Filipinas had a tentative start but never looked back once they got the momentum. They beat the HK ladies via a 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 tally.

FINAL: PHI starts strong, sweeps HK, 25-21, 25-16, 25-17.

Catch #AVCWomensSCH: Philippines🇵🇭 vs Hong Kong🇭🇰 NOW AIRING on S+A! pic.twitter.com/8mJgoeGIuF

— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) August 9, 2017

The team was led by Alyssa Valdez with 14 points and Jaja Santiago with 13 points. The next assignment of the girls will be Kazakhstan on Friday.

The next win was from Gilas Pilipinas who also opened their campaign in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon. In their first group stage match, they were able to get an upset win over defending champion China, 96-87.

The Philippines 🇵🇭 fight off a big comeback from China 🇨🇳 to open their #FIBAAsiaCup2017 campaign

📊 https://t.co/zbXwbsAnpH pic.twitter.com/t3GUKM644w

— FIBA (@FIBA) August 9, 2017

Gilas led most of the game, with China almost pulling off their come from behind surge in the fourth quarter, even getting the lead in the last quarter. But Gilas was able to hold on and was able to clinch the win. Terrence Romeo topscorred with 26 points, Japeth Aguilar has 5 blocked shots and Gabe Norwood coming up with 3 steals and 3 blocks. Here are the highlights of the game from FIBA's official YouTube channel:

Next game will be against WABA dark horse Iraq on Friday night.

To cap off this streak, PFL's Ceres Negros FC was declared as the ASEAN Zone Champion at the 2017 AFC Cup in front of their home crowd in Bacolod City.  Ceres Negros won over Home United FC at Bacolod with a score of 2-0 and a 3-2 win on aggregate. OJ Porteria started with an early goal at 2' time. The second goal was from a penalty kick from Manny Ott.

👑 Congratulations to the #AFCCup2017 ASEAN Zone champions @CeresNegrosFC! pic.twitter.com/HmP46npXMD

— AFC Cup (@AFCCup) August 9, 2017

This is the farthest a Filipino team got to since the start of the tournament. They will face FC Istikol on August 22.

Congrats to all the Filipino atheletes! #LabanPilipinas

UAAP 80 : UP FIGHTING MAROONS MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM ROUND 1 SCHEDULE

Here is the round 1 schedule of the UP Fighting Maroons Men's Basketball Team in UAAP Season 80. The season will start on September 9 but UP's game will only start the day after. This schedule is posted in the official Twitter page of the UPMBT.

SHARE & TAG your friends! #UAAPSeason80 is here! 

Like our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for more updates: @upmbt :-) pic.twitter.com/GfhKF6ZtMX

— UP Fighting Maroons (@upmbt) August 7, 2017

I am planning to watch some games this season, so see you in the games fellow isko and iska. #UPFight

BASKETBALL : METTA WORLD PEACE IS COMING TO MANILA!

In a surprise post in his Twitter account, Metta World Peace, an NBA player formerly known as Ron Artest, is coming to Manila for the first time!

I'm finally going to Manilla, Philipines.. August 11th.. 1st time ever...

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) August 7, 2017

Details on what event he will be joining has not yet been revealed but Filipino fans need to block this date to see him. Metta has a bit of Filipino connection as well - his son Jeron Artest - is part Filipino with a Filipina mom.

See you soon in Manila Metta World Peace!

FIBA ASIA CUP 2016 : GILAS PILIPINAS GAMES SCHEDULE

Gilas Pilipinas once again will try to win the elusive Asia crown after two consecutive runner up finishes in the 2013 and 2015 editions. This year's competition will take place in Beirut, Lebanon from August 8 to 20, 2017. The Philippines last won the Asian title in 1985 - 32 years ago.

For the group stage, the Philippines was drawn in the so-called "Group of Death" - Group B. Also in this group are defending champion China, who defeated us in the finals in Wuhan in 2015; Gulf champion Qatar and WABA Championship dark horse Iraq.

The Philippines will be playing without naturalized player  Andray Blatche who suited up for Gilas in the 2014 World Cup, 2015 FIBA Asia Championship and 2017 SEABA tournament. The Gilas roster includes:

Jayson Castro
Terrence Romeo
Jio Jalalon
Carl Bryan Cruz
Roger Pogoy
Matthew Wright
Calvin Abueva
Gabe Norwood
Raymond Almazan
Japeth Aguilar
June Mar Fajardo
Christian Standhardinger

Recently, June Mar Fajardo might also be out of the competition due to a calf muscle injury. He traveled with the team to Lebanon but not sure if he will be playing.

The schedule for games and telecast for the group stage are as follows:

August 9 vs China - 6:30 PM LIVE on TV5, Aksyon TV and on www.sports5.ph/live
August 11 vs Iraq - 9:00 PM LIVE on TV5, Aksyon TV and on www.sports5.ph/live
August 13 vs Qatar - 9:00 PM LIVE on www.sports5.ph/live (Delayed telecast on TV5 at 10:00 PM)

Let's support Gila Pilipinas!

AVC SENIOR WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : MATCH AND TELECST SCHEDULE

The Philippine National Women's Volleyball Team will wrap up its preparation for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games by participating in the 2017 AVC Senior Women's Volleyball Championship. The tournament will be held here in the Philippines, at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna and Muntinlupa Sports Complex on August 9 to 17, 2017.

The Philippines is in Group A together with Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. Pool B is composed of powerhouses China, Japan and Australia; while Group C is formed by South Korea, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Lastly, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Iran and Maldives is pooled in Group D.

The Philippine team is formed by the following athletes which is still fresh from their 17 day training camp in Japan and is coached by Francis Vicente:

Kim Fajardo
Jaja Santiago
Mika Reyes
Jovelyn Gonzaga
Alyssa Valdez
Denden Lazaro
Rhea Dimaculangan
Mika Ortiz
Gen Casugod
Aby Marano
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas
Ces Molina
Kim Dy
Dawn Macandali

Here is the tournament schedule:

Telecast schedule for the group stage to be shown at ABS-CBN Sports + Action is as follows:

August 9 - 12:30pm (Live) - Chinese Taipei vs Iran
August 9 - 6:30pm (Delayed) - Opening Ceremonies / Hong Kong vs Philippines
August 9 - 11:30pm (Delayed) - Thailand vs Maldives
August 10 - 12:30pm (Live) - China vs Japan
August 10 - 6:30pm (Delayed) - Kazakhstan vs Hong Kong
August 10 - 8:30pm (Delayed) - Thailand vs Iran
August 11 - 6:30pm (Delayed) - Philippines vs Kazakhstan
August 11 - 8:30pm (Delayed) - Thailand vs Chinese Taipei

Hope everyone supports the team. Good Luck girls!

GILAS PILIPINAS: JUNE MAR WILL SIT OUT FIBA ASIA CUP DUE TO INJURY

Another unexpected blow to the Gilas Pilipinas campaign was all over Twitter world today. It was announced this afternoon that June Mar Fajardo might miss out on the Gilas campaign at the FIBA Asia Cup after injuring his calf during the San Miguel - Talk N Text game last Wednesday.

The 3 time and reigning PBA MVP apparently has a strained right calf muscle and will be out for at least a couple of weeks. It was also reported that June Mar will still travel with the team to Lebanon to observe on the playing style of the other countries, maybe for preparation for the World Cup qualifiers which will start before the year ends.

Here is the medical certificate which was given to the media by the PBA Commissioner:

Copy June Mar Fajardo's medical report (distributed by Comm. Narvasa). The Kraken will miss the 2017 FIBA-Asia Cup | @abscbnsports pic.twitter.com/83kVBxP7xl

— Paul Kennedy Lintag (@paullintag8) August 4, 2017

Gilas coach Chot Reyes then posted this in his Twitter account:

As the size gets smaller & the number dwindles, the fight grows bigger as the heart expands even more. #💪🇵🇭❤️

— Chot Reyes (@coachot) August 4, 2017

Another Gilas player was also reported to be injured. Returning Gilas defense specialist Gabe Norwood was also reported to be injured and will also be out of the FIBA Asia campaign. In his Twitter account, Gabe posted this:

I'm hurt?

— Gabe Norwood (@GNorwood5) August 4, 2017

He was then quick to clarify that he is not hurt and will play in FIBA Asia Cup.

I'm not hurt

— Gabe Norwood (@GNorwood5) August 4, 2017

Given all of what has happened, with the limited preparation that we have, I am tempering my expectations of our placing in this tournament. But who knows? We might still pull off some surprise wins.

But one thing is for sure, I am still supporting Gilas Pilipinas. Puso!

AFC CUP 2017 : LET'S SUPPORT CERES NEGROS FC IN THE ZONAL FINALS

Ceres Negros FC will be battling for the Southeast Asia Zonal Championship of the 2017 AFC Cup against Home United FC of Singapore. This is the first time that a Filipino Club reached this stage of the competition and will have a chance to even go further and compete for the cup.

The Filipino side will again rely on Bienvenido Maranon, Iain Ramsay, Manny Ott and captain Martin Steuble to score goals, Luke Woodland and Junior Munoz for their defense and Roland Muller's goalkeeping. They will also be fielding their new mainstay, Stephan Shrock for the first time in the competition.

The first game (the Away game for Ceres Negros FC) will be tomorrow, August 2 in Singapore. The 2nd game (the Home game for Ceres Negros FC) will be on August 9 in Bacolod. Both games will be broadcasted live by Fox Sports.

Good luck Ceres and win that zonal championship!