Tanauan riders dominate 2nd Malaysian Skimboarding Competition

The Tanauan, Leyte riders once again dominated the Penang, Malaysia International Skimboarding Competition held on August 16, emerging as champion in the groumet division while the other one is first runner up in the open division.

Carl Gabas, a lanky high school student, bested riders from Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong and other parts of the skimboarding world to become the champion in the groumet division of the 2nd Penang Malaysia International Skimboarding Competition.

On the other hand, Leo Espada, last year’s champion, is this year’s first runner up in this year’s open category. The two are the only riders representing the Philippines in the competition. Read the rest of this entry »

Pacquiao makes history after Knock Out win over David Diaz

Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao made history by becoming the first Asian to win four weight divisions when he knocked out World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz in the 9th round in their scheduled 12-round fight in Mandalay Bay, last Vegas on Sunday.

Pacquiao came out smoking right after the bell rang in the first round, pounding Diaz with flurries of solid punches.

The Filipino champ did not give his Mexico foe any quarter to counter punch as Pacquiao beat Diaz to a pulp from the first canto until he knocked him out in the 9th round.

According to fightnews.com report, Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35KOs) was much quicker as he out-punched and out-boxed the bigger Diaz (34-2-1, 17KOs).

As early as the 5th round, Pacman busted Diaz’s face with sharp left-rights combinations.

But the never-say-die Diaz kept coming until Pacquiao floored him in the ninth to end the fight at 2:24 in the round of their scheduled 12-round encounter. Read the rest of this entry »

Miguel Molina Philippines Olympic flag-bearer

By ABAC CORDERO
The Philippine Star

Miguel Molina, the Best Male Athlete of the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, has been designated as the flag-bearer of the Philippine contingent to this year’s Beijing Olympics.

This was announced Thursday by Philippine Olympic Committee vice president and RP team chef-de-mission Monico Puentevella, who said Molina was the hands-down choice for the position.

“Miguel deserves the job, he being the most outstanding male athlete in the last SEA Games,” said Puentevella, adding that he was tasked by the POC board to name the flag-bearer.

“I was tasked by the executive board to decide on the matter and so I decided it should be Miguel. I already got the board approval about it,” added Puentevella, head of the weightlifting association. Read the rest of this entry »

Manny Pacquiao picked as best pound-for-pound fighter

A boxing website has picked Filipino sports icon Manny Pacquiao as its top pound-for-pound fighter following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather.

“With Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s announced retirement, FightFan.com has elevated former no. 2 ranked Manny Pacquiao to the number one pound-for-pound fighter in all of boxing,” said the website’s staff.

The powerful hitter has consistently been hailed by several boxing websites as the second-best boxer in the world.

FightFan.com, however, said that since Pacquiao has consistently been fighting top class boxers since 2003, he deserved to be Mayweather’s successor.

“Pacquiao’s lengthy path through the best fighters in three different divisions coupled with his emphatic stoppage victories over legendary fighters like Marco Antonio Barrera and Eric Morales have solidified the Filipino terror’s place atop of FightFan.com’s pound-for-pound list,” the website’s staff said. Read the rest of this entry »

Manny Pacquiao: Next in line for top pound-for-pound?

abs-cbnNEWS.com

With Floyd Mayweather’s retirement finally in place, talks are spreading about the next top pound-for-pound fighter around.

One of the top contenders for this boxing honor is Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, who is scheduled for a title showdown against WBC lightweight champion David “Dangerous” Diaz on June 28.

The powerful hitter has consistently been hailed by several boxing websites as the Number 2 best boxer in the world. These sites include BoxingDaily.co.uk, EastSideBoxing.com and theRing-Online.com of the Ring Magazine which is considered as the bible of boxing.

But with the official exit of Mayweather from the boxing scene, speculations are aplenty on who’s taking over his place. Read the rest of this entry »

Filipino teen becomes the World’s Youngest Chess Grandmaster

At 14 years old, Wesley So is the world’s youngest chess grandmaster, and the seventh youngest GM in chess history.

Wesley So is a fine chess prodigy. With a FIDE rating of 2540, he is the highest ranked chess player in the Philippines, only sharing the top spot with legendary Filipino GM Eugene Torre.

Born in Manila on October 9, 1993 to accountants William and Eleanor So, Wesley So was raised in a conservative Filipino family. He was aged 6 when his father taught him to play chess, and aged 9 when he started to compete in junior active chess tournaments. His aggressive style caught the attention of professional chess players, including former Philippine chess champion IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso. Cardoso remarked, “The young lad… would sacrifice a queen or any other pieces in his arsenal to get a winning attack.” He also noticed that So did not have the full sponsorships enjoyed by the other chess prodigies, saying “He cannot afford a decent training given by well known GM-coaches and has to rely on his pure talent, diligence…before competing.” Read the rest of this entry »

One of the World’s Greatest Football Player ever was a Filipino

Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (born in Iloilo City, Philippines, October 7, 1896; died Barcelona, Spain, February 13, 1964) was a Filipino/Spanish footballer who played for FC Galeno, FC Barcelona, Bohemians of Manila, the Philippines and Spain. Alcántara is still the youngest player to play and score for FC Barcelona in a competitive game. He played for the club between 1912 and 1927, scoring 357 goals in as many matches and remains the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. Alcántara was also the first Asian-born footballer to play for a European club and will go down in history as the greatest Filipino footballer of all time.

Debut at 15
Alcántara was born in the Philippines to Spanish parents. His father was a Spanish soldier stationed there. He grew up in Barcelona and initially played for FC Galeno before he was soon spotted by Joan Gamper and signed up for FC Barcelona. Read the rest of this entry »

Kali aka Arnis - The Filipino Cultural Art of Stick and Knife Fighting

Every culture throughout history has created some form of martial art so their people can defend themselves in a time of crisis. But the only true test of a martial art is actual combat.

Known as Kali in Europe and the United States, the knife and stick fighting based art is actually called Eskrima or Arnis by the Filipino people. It is said that the art was developed over centuries during many intertribal conflicts and wars with outside invaders.

Those who practice Kali claim that is more then just a cultural art and remains an effective form of self defense that can be taught to someone quickly. And while on paper Kali seems like it has a lot to offer, both its historical data and self defense methodology say otherwise.

Many Filipino martial artists cite the Battle of Mactan, which occurred on April 27, 1521 as proof that their system works in battle. Read the rest of this entry »

Pinoy Wushu Players wins one gold, four silvers in 7th Asian Wushu championship

Willy Wang did the country proud again after flashing his old deadly form and winning a gold medal for Team Philippines in the 7th Asian Wushu Championship Thursday at the TaShi gymnasium here.

Wang, also gold medal winner in last year’s World Wushu Championship, totaled 9.65 points to beat Vietnamese Pam Quoc Khanh (9.64) and Hong Kong’s He Jiing De (9.63) for first place in nandao (Southern single-edged sword).

“I am happy I was able to redeem myself. I disappointed many people with my performance in the previous events,” said the 18-year old Wang, the former Asian junior champion.

He also took the opportunity to express his gratitude to San Miguel Corp., FG Foundation for financing the RP wushu team’s training in China and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for sponsoring their trip here. Read the rest of this entry »