Philippines’ Rubilen Amit Wins 2nd Women’s World 10-ball Pool Crown

By Cris Larano blogs.wsj.com November 5, 2013, 1:22 PM

MANILA—Filipina cue artist Rubilen Amit became the first ever two-time women’s world pool title holder on Monday evening, when she defeated 2011 champion Kelly Fisher from Britain. With the win, Ms. Amit joins Efren Reyes and Ronnie Alcano as the Philippines’ only two-time world champions in pool, and emerges from a slump that had kept her from the limelight she basked in five years ago. That was when she won her first women’s world championship crown, in 2009, at the inaugural edition of the Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. The race-to-10 finals, which were held this year at Resorts World in Manila, saw Ms. Amit trailing Ms. Fisher 0-2 early in the match. She would have dropped 0-3 if not for a double-rail shot that sent the 9 ball – which was hidden behind the 10 ball – into to the corner pocket, a shot that she had to call as per 10-ball rules. The 30-year-old Ms. Amit, who has been playing since the mid-1990s, has racked up several gold medals for pool in the Southeast Asian Games. Despite the weak start on Monday and errors that gave Ms. Fisher a back two-game lead at 6-4, Ms. Amit eventually found the form that has produced her past victories. Eventually she leveled the score at 6-6, then won the last three games thanks in part to Ms. Fisher’s errors, which included her sinking the five ball in the corner instead of the side pocket, as she had called. Ms. Amit secured the crown with a 10-7 margin. “I’m very happy because I’ve been in a slump for the longest time,” Ms. Amit said during a post-match interview aired live on television. “I was thinking ‘Just give me a chance. If there’s a chance, I’ll do my best.’” Ms. Amit’s best earned her the title, and $21,000. Ms. Fisher pocketed $10,000. Forty-eight international players participated in the tournament. Ms. Amit was the only Filipino left in contention after the group stages and was wildly cheered on by Filipino fans. She reached the finals via a come-from-behind win over Taiwan’s Tsai Pei Chen in a semifinals match earlier on Monday.

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Kobe Paras is FIBA 3×3 U-18 Worlds Slam Dunk King

Kobe Paras reigned supreme in the FIBA 3×3 U-18 World Championships dunk contest besting the USA’s Demonte Flannigan and Spain’s Antonio Morales in the finals at the Merdeka Square. The high-flying La Salle Greenhills star scored a perfect 30 points on his first 3 dunks in the championship round before wounding up with a total of 117 points to beat the Spanish and American challengers. From his very first dunk, Paras already set the tone for a colorful night after bringing a motorcycle to the hardcourt. To make the slam more special, his teammate, UAAP Juniors MVP Thirdy Ravena, sat on the bike before Paras went baseline for a thunderous finish. Paras’ second dunk was even more spectacular, jumping off two players — Ravena and a cager from Spain — and finishing with a one-handed tomahawk. Paras amassed 30 points each on both dunks. Demonte Flannigan failed to convert on his between-the-legs slam which left Paras and Morales in the one-on-one finale. Morales, however, ran out of creative tricks even as Paras continued to soar in the finals with an off-the-glass windmill to take home the slam dunk title with a score of 57 to Morales’ 51. Paras was already a crowd favorite yesterday when he attempted a “tribute to Lebron James” dunk in the qualification stage. He earned a perfect 30 after an off-the-glass alley-oop to himself which he finished with a reverse jam to top 14 other participants. It was a sweet gold for the Philippines, who were booted out earlier in the tournament after a 3-4 card in Pool B didn’t allow them to make the Last 16. Paras also made headlines in July this year, when he dunked on NBA superstar LeBron James during the 4-time MVP’s visit for Nike. Watch this video by YouTube user Herculean Breed. The 15-year-old Kobe Paras is the son of the only PBA Rookie-MVP Benjie Paras. Paras made it to the semifinals by doing this between-the-legs slam that earned a perfect score from the judges.

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Filipina Karting Queen bags awards in Houston Grand Prix

JV Villar, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

Representing Asia and the Philippines, auto racer Michele Bumgarner made her mark at the Grand Prix of Houston Indycar series. Michele’s debut on the 2013 series serves as a qualifier and preparation for her to run the full pro Mazda Championship series in 2014 in Florida. She not only made the top ten cut, but brought home two awards. “I’m so proud of her to representing the Philippines as I’m a Filipina mommy, so proud of her and good luck for the rest of her race,” said Monina Bumgarner, Michele’s mother. Competing in a sport dominated by men, Michele knew, the challenge was tough, she qualified finishing number 14th for race number one. “You want her fit right into the car because when you actually feel a cargo is loose, it’s not your arms that feel it first it’s your tail feathers so you want her to be right up against that car married right tight in it she can become one with the race car that’s the safest place for her to be,” said Lee Ann Nash of Nash Performance Group. But with focus and determination, Michele found her way around the Indycar series circuit on day 2, finishing 9th. She received the Staubli award and Quarter Master Hard Charger award for a gain of four positions in #6 Mazda Philippine Race Car. “I’m very happy very thankful to all the supporters out there, keep supporting, proud Pinoy, thank you to Mazda, Philippines for all the help, said the Michele, dubbed as the “Asian Karting Queen.” Michele is now on her way up to the full Indy route championship in Florida next year as the first Asian to get this far.

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Philippine’s Own Sikat II Finishes 3rd in World Solar Challenge

Sikat II, the official Philippine representative to the GoPro Adventure Class division of the 2013 World Solar Challenge garnered a third place ranking by the end of the competition after 6 days of gruelling racing through the Australian Outback. 2013 World Solar Challenge (WSC) The World Solar Challenge is a friendly international competition that starts in Darwin and ends in Adelaide. All in all, the race course is roughly 3000km long. At the start of the race, teams are allowed to store 5kW hours of energy in their solar vehicle’s onboard batteries. However, this is only a tenth of the total energy required to reach the end of the race course. The rest of the energy needed can either be harvested from the sun’s rays or collected from the kinetic energy expended by the vehicle. Team Sikat II, participated in the competition’s Adventure Class. In the Adventure Class, teams are allowed to use solar cars that were used to compete in previous World Solar Challenge races. Australia’s own Aurora Evolution placed first, followed by Chile’s Intikallpa 2, and the Philippine’s own Sikat II. The Sikat II was designed and built entirely in the Philippines by students from De La Salle University’s Mechanical and Electronics Engineering department in partnership with the Sikat Solar Challenge Foundation. While this is not the first time the team has participated in the WSC, this is their highest finish to date.

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Azkals stun Pakistan to retain Peace Cup title

ABS-CBNnews.com Posted at 10/15/2013 9:02 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Stephen Schroeck led the Philippine Azkals as they climbed back from the brink of defeat to outclass Pakistan, 3-1, and retain the 2013 Philippine Football Peace Cup crown in Bacolod on Tuesday night. The Azkals, who needed to score at least 3 goals and beat Pakistan, fell behind early in the match when Kaleem Ullah opened the scoring for the visitors in the 15th minute. Patrick Reichelt equalized for the hosts in the 33rd minute through an assist from Schroeck. The Azkals pinned back Pakistan in its own half the rest of match, with goalkeeper Neil Etheridge foiling the Pakistanis' forays at the other end. The go-ahead goal for the Azkals came from Chris Greatwich in the 78th minute. Schroeck sealed the Philippines' victory and his man-of-the-match performance with a goal of his own in the 88th minute.

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