A winter basketball tournament for 16 Filipino teams yesterday started in Taoyuan, with hundreds gathering at a community center for the opening.
In the ceremony of the Confederation of Ilocano Association, Samahang Ilocano’s (CIASI) Nankan Linkou Winter Basketball League, more than 300 Filipinos who comprised the teams marched past the stands to be judged on best uniform and muse.
The Lian-Hwa team, made up entirely of workers from Lian Hwa Foods in Taoyuan, won best uniform, with their eye-catching red, white and blue jerseys.
The design of their jerseys was inspired by this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend uniform, which includes a tribute to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in January, Lian-Hwa captain Jayson Manipon said.
The jersey features an image of the shooting guard dribbling a ball, Manipon said.
“In basketball, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are our idols, and they will forever be legends who inspire us,” the 34-year-old player said.
TEAM SPIRIT
The Linkou Spartans won the Best Muse trophy, which was accepted by the team’s muse Barbie Fronda, a 26-year-old Filipina factory worker from New Taipei City.
In Filipino basketball culture, muses are women who whip up support for their teams at tournament openings.
The tournament, which did not hold any official games yesterday due to unfavorable weather, is expected to run for two to three months, with 56 games in the preliminaries before playoffs begin.
The league has raised NT$10,000 to buy stationery supplies for elementary schools in the Philippines, said Aristotle De la Cruz, president of CIASI Taiwan’s Nankan subchapter, which organized the competition.
HOMETOWN SUPPORT
The money, raised from tournament registration fees and a three-point shootout competition on the opening day, would go to elementary schools attended by players on the Guishan Tan-Star team.
The team, made up of players from the Philippine province of Bohol, earned the right to choose the schools after winning a raffle.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Justin Cueto of the Quanta Ballers team, named after the Taoyuan-based Quanta Computer, won the three-point shootout contest, sinking seven out of 15 shots, among 50 contestants.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on