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BYJOSEF T. RAMOS CORRESPONDENT
sports The Manila Times TUESDAY D ecember 7, 2010
Donaire sees victory over Montiel T
“I’m excited. This is where I
WO days after defeating Ukrainian bantamweight Voldymyr Sydorenko, rising Filipino boxing star Nonito
Donaire Jr. expressed confidence that he can outlast Mexican World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel.
Rookie Al- Hussaini is PBA ‘best of the week’
ROOKIE Rabeh Al-Hussaini made his presence felt as he powered the Air21 Express to the most important victory that enabled them to make it to the eight-team quarterfinal round in the 36th Philippine Basketball Associa- tion (PBA) All-Filipino Cup. The 6’7” slotman Al-Hussaini ex- ploded with 30 points in the Express 82-77 triumph over Barako Bull to secure their fifth win in 12 matches, which virtually eliminated the En- ergy Boosters and Powerade from the quarterfinals. “Rabeh played his best game so
far. It’s just a glimpse of his real po- tential,” said Air21 coach Yeng Guiao of the 2010 second overall pick Al-Hussaini, who earned the Accel-PBA Press Corps’ Player of the Week for the period November 29 to December 5. “He showed that if he’s serious about his purpose he can get bet- ter,” added Guiao referring to Al- Hussaini, who also pulled down 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. The Filipino-Kuwaiti Al-Hussaini’s performance was actually a fitting follow-up of his career high 31 points during their 89-96 setback to San Miguel Beer on November 26. He said that they will continue to
play well and win their remaining two games to avoid the seventh or eighth spot, which may pit them either against the Beermen, Ginebra or Talk ‘N Text in the next round, where the Top 2 teams enjoy a twice- to-beat advantage. “If we can avoid San Miguel Beer
it’s better but if not, we will give them a good fight,” Guiao added, whose ward Al-Hussaini jacked his averages to 17.6 points and 8.8 re- bounds a game.
FRANK CALAPRE
■ Tiger Woods of USA (right) and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland shake hands after McDowell forced a sudden death playoff with Woods and won on the first playoff hole at the Chevron World Challenge December 5 in Thousand Oaks, California. AFP PHOTO
WOODS WILL DOMINATE AGAIN – MCDOWELL
TIGER WOODS’ bid to end a tumul- tuous year with a victory at his World Challenge fell short, but Graeme McDowell predicted the US star will again be a dominant force in golf—and soon.
“He used to appear invincible,”
McDowell noted after he delivered two brilliant clutch putts and beat Woods at the first hole of sudden death at Sherwood Country Club on Sunday.
“Of course he has made himself appear more human in the last 12 months . . . But there’s something a bit special about his golf game and I fully expect that mystique to return as the golf clubs start doing the talk- ing again.”
Plenty of talk swirled around Woods in 2010, and much of it had
Celtics stretch win streak to seven by routing Nets
NATE ROBINSON scored 21 points as a last-minute injury replacement for Rajon Rondo to spark the Boston Celtics past New Jersey 100-75 on Sunday, stretching their NBA win streak to seven games. Kevin Garnett scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Ray Allen added 13 points and Glen Davis came off the bench to contrib- ute 16 points for the Celtics, who improved to 16-4, the best record in the Eastern Conference. Rondo was pulled from the Bos- ton lineup with foot and hamstring injuries just moments before the opening tip-off. “It was literally about 2 seconds
before the game was going to start,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “I usu- ally don’t like that. It was really a last- second cancellation.” Robinson proved more than able to fill-in for the gifted playmaker, scoring eight points in the game’s opening 4:12 to set a tone for the day. “I just go about things the same way,”
Robinson said. “I just play the same way as if I was coming off the bench.” After Robinson netted a three- pointer to conclude his spurt and give Boston an 11-8 lead, the Celtics never trailed as the Nets lost their fourth game in a row and fell to 6-15, the worst mark in the Eastern Conference. AFP
less to do with his golf game than with the revelations of marital infidelity that exploded in November of 2009. By August his marriage was over, he had lost millions in endorsement deals and for the first time since he turned professional, Woods finished a season without a victory. He played only 15 stroke-play
events worldwide and got a nod as a captain’s pick for the US Ryder Cup team. But Woods admitted that the off- course turmoil affected him and he also struggled to get to grips with the swing changes he was implement- ing with coach Sean Foley. A storming singles triumph on the last day of the Ryder Cup as well as a six-under final round at the Australian Masters in Novem-
ber were signs that his game was coming together. But it wasn’t until this week that
Woods was able to put it together for multiple rounds. “I’ve played well in stretches, now the stretches are lasting longer,” Woods said. “It was just a few holes and then it became nine holes. First day it was all 18 holes. “So it was progress . . . I’m just really excited about this off-season,” Woods added. “I haven’t been that way in a while.”
Northern Ireland’s McDowell, who has had a stellar season him- self with a first major title at the US Open and a move into the Top 10 in the world, was excited to see Woods’ progress as well. “I’m definitely a guy who says
that golf needs Tiger Woods and we need him back to winning tourna- ments,” McDowell said. “Just great to see him back playing great again this week.
“I thought he controlled his ball
really well the last couple of days . . . didn’t do a huge lot wrong,” McDowell added. “Obviously I was trying to go out there and do my job today, but he’ll be back winning tournaments very soon.” Said Woods: “We—we meaning Sean and I—know the direction we need to go. That’s exciting. “I hit some good shots this week and I played really well for most of the week. The middle part of the round today was an exception, but, boy, I thought I did some good things this week.”
AFP Serbia clinches first Davis Cup victory
NOVAK DJOKOVIC ranked Serbia’s historic Davis Cup win above his Australian Open crown, and $20- million earnings, as defeated France left Belgrade damning sections of the crowd as “imbeciles.” World No. 3 Djokovic and the
unheralded Viktor Troicki swept Serbia to a first Davis Cup title on Sunday, overturning an overnight deficit to beat nine-time winners France 3-2. Troicki, the world No. 30, eased past Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, after Djokovic had crushed Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to pull his country level with his sixth win in six Davis Cup singles rubbers this season. “Number one,” said 23-year-old
Djokovic, when asked where the title stands among his achievements. His confidence was based on seeing
his team come back from a 2-1 deficit after Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic had squandered a two sets lead to lose in five sets in Saturday’s doubles to Llodra and Arnaud Clement. “We were trying not to lose our
heads, but still you could feel the disappointment after the doubles match because we were so close to winning, and then so much pressure playing in front of our crowd,” said Djokovic. “To be able to perform as well as
we did today under the circum- stances is just too good. It’s history,
10th Wack Wack President Cup draws banner field
A HUGE field of 288, featuring a number of dignitaries, corporate bigwigs, club members and guests, will vie for top honors in various divisions in the 10th President’s Cup slated this Saturday (De- cember 11) at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s west course. The event, held in honor of the
club’s incumbent president, Dr. Philip Ella Juico, offers a wide array of prizes with competitions tapped on Groups I, II and III and seniors in the men’s
division and Groups I and II for the ladies and guest division. There will be two sets of shotgun start tee-off at 6:30 a.m. and 12 noon with the event to use the Double Peoria scoring system, according to Wack Wack’s sports and committee Chairman Eddie Gobing. Cats Motors Philippines, distribu- tor of Mercedes Benz in the country, Kart Plaza, Club Car and Toyota Balintawak are the event’s hole-in-one
sponsors with Pacific Links Golf De- velopers Inc., Pacific On-Line Corp., San Miguel Corp. and Stradcom Corp. making up the major hole sponsors. Other backers of the tournament, also held as the club president’s early birthday bash on December 14, are Unilever Philippines and Northern Islands Co. Inc.
Hole sponsors are Manila Electric Co., Philippine Long Distance Tel- ephone Co. Business Solutions, Se-
curity Bank Corp., Subic Bay Freeport Grain Terminal Services Inc. and Tro- jan Envelope Manufacturing Corp. Other supporters are Pascual Con- sumer Healthcare Corp., Mayor Ben Hur Abalos, and Rep. Neptali Gonzalez, China Airlines, Eva Air, Toby Sports Cor- porate Apparel, Peerless Soap, Global Noble, Bravo Golf, Perskindol, Techpoint Enterprises, Asia Brewery, Jim Mar Indus- tries, Dynamic Sports Corp. (Titleist golf balls) and Quizgem Media.
Ateneo de Manila trounces Adamson, 73-67 in PCCL
KIRK LONG and Nico Salva com- bined for 49 points to guide Ateneo de Manila University to a 73-67 win against Adamson University Mon- day in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) at The Arena in San Juan City.
American shooting guard Long
tallied 25 points on a 5-of-6 shoot- ing beyond the arc while the tour- nament’s “most valuable player” Nico Salva added 24 points in Game 3.
In the previous game at the
Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Thursday, Ateneo loss 78-80, in Game 1 but
equalized the series with an impor- tant win in Game 2, Sunday (70- 59) in Philsports Arena. The Blue Eagles become the first school to win the PCCL title twice since 2003. Ateneo won its first PCCL crown in 2007. The Falcons failed to overcome the
Blue Eagles lead, 71-64, in the last 1:39. After Adamson’s three-pointer, Salva sank two free throws in the fad- ing seconds to win the crown. Eric Camson led Adamson with 15 points while Jan Julius Colina notched 14 and Lester Alvarez 12. JOSEF T. RAMOS
one of the best sports results this country has ever had. “This is by far—individually and for
the team—the best achievement in our career by far.” Troicki, the world No. 30 and
constantly in the shadow of Djokovic, held his nerve after replacing Janko Tipsarevic for the deciding rubber. “I was remembering when I was a child and how I was dreaming one day of playing such an important match for my country,” said the 24-year-old. “I’m not a hero. We all did it. Janko in the semis. Novak hasn’t lost a match this year in Davis Cup in singles. I thank him and all the team. Without them, we couldn’t do it,” he added.
want to be. I want to fight the best out there. I know I can beat Montiel. He’s a tough guy and he know he can beat me as well,” Donaire, who improved to 25-1 with 17 knockouts, told boxing site’s
examiner.com. Donaire, who stays unbeaten in the last 24 bouts, said he would un- dergo proper training to strengthen his skills and make him durable
when he fights Montiel (43-2-2 with 33 knockouts) on February. “It’s just about getting the right mentality, the proper training and everything to win. I’m very, very motivated for this fight and I’m happy to be here.”
Winning against Montiel could also be Donaire’s ticket to follow- ing the path of his fellow Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao. “I’m hoping to be able to get
where Manny is,” Donaire said to Yahoo! Sports’ boxing expert Kevin Iole, adding, “Who wouldn’t? I want to be a star. I want to fight the big fights and the best guys. It’s not right now for anyone to talk about being another Manny Pacquiao. There’s only one Manny Pacquiao.” Donaire’s trainer Robert Garcia is confident his ward got what it takes to become the next boxing superstar after Pacquiao.
Patrimonio sisters
begin PCA campaign
SIBLINGS Anna Clarice and Anna Christine Patrimonio will begin their campaigns today when they face separate foes in the ladies singles of the 29th Philippine Columbian As- sociation being held at the PCA in- door shell-clay court in Paco, Manila. The top-seeded Anna Clarice takes on Ivy de Castro in the first round of the tournament presented by Cebuana Lhuillier while No. 2 Anna Christine will test the mettle of Alyssa Labay. “We’ll just do our best to come up with good results. My participation in the Phinma tournament last week was a good exposure going into this tournament,” said the 17-year-old Anna Clarice who reached the semi- finals of the Phinma International Juniors Week 2.
Also seeing action are Filipino- Americans Desirae Krawcyk and Mariel Ante, who will battle Sarah Jane Lim and Louise Alexandra Lopez, respectively. In the men’s singles, last year’s runner-up Marc Reyes stamped his class over junior campaigner Akio Sy, 6-2, 6-0, to advance to the third round of the event also supported by Accel and Dunlop. Reyes arranged a third-round meet- ing with the winner between Kim Ivor Saraza and Japanese Kento Kajiwara. Other second-round winners were Arce Mano, Elbert Anasta, Ralph Kevin Barte, Alexander Lazaro and Ruel Capampangan.
Mano defeated Chris Cuarto, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Anasta ousted Peter Egos, 6- 2, 6-3; Barte rallied past Japanese Yuji Nishi, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; Lazaro clobbered Mario Sabas, 6-1, 6-3; and Capam- pangan blasted Jacob Lagman, 6-3, 6-2. EMIL C. NOGUERA
»NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS AND STANDINGS
Atlanta Dallas
Cleveland Green Bay
Minnesota
28 Tampa Bay 24 38 Indianapolis 13 Miami
10 34 San Francisco 16
New York Giants 31 Washington 7 New Orleans 34 Cincinnati 30 Chicago
24 Detroit 38 Buffalo
10 Denver 19 Arizona
Jacksonville 17 Tennessee 6 Kansas City St. Louis Oakland Seattle
Pittsburgh
6 6
28 San Diego 13 31 Carolina 14 13 Baltimore 10
Tennessee 30 Jacksonville 3 STANDINGS
AMERICAN CONFERENCE WLT PCT PF PA
AFC East Division NY Jets
New England 9 2 0 .818 334 266 Miami
9 2 0 .818 264 187 6 6 0 .500 215 238
Buffalo 2 10 0 .167 243 333 AFC North Division Pittsburgh 9 3 0 .750 267 185 Baltimore 8 4 0 .667 260 201 Cleveland 5 7 0 .417 229 239 Cincinnati 2 10 0 .167 255 322 AFC South Division Jacksonville 7 5 0 .583 240 294 Indianapolis 6 6 0 .500 282 252 Tennessee 5 7 0 .417 263 235 Houston 5 7 0 .417 288 321 AFC West Division Kansas City 8 4 0 .667 295 237 San Diego 6 6 0 .500 323 253 Oakland 6 6 0 .500 283 269 Denver
3 9 0 .250 256 333 NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
NFC East Division Philadelphia 8 4 0 .667 344 281 NY Giants 8 4 0 .667 308 247 Washington 5 7 0 .417 222 293 Dallas
NFC North Division Chicago
4 8 0 .333 294 336 9 3 0 .750 246 192
Green Bay 8 4 0 .667 303 182 Minnesota 5 7 0 .417 227 253 Detroit
2 10 0 .167 278 306
NFC South Division Atlanta 10 2 0 .833 304 233 New Orleans 9 3 0 .750 299 227 Tampa Bay 7 5 0 .583 243 251 Carolina 1 11 0 .083 154 307 NFC West Division St. Louis 6 6 0 .500 232 237 Seattle
6 6 0 .500 240 289 AFP
San Francisco 4 8 0 .333 203 259 Arizona
PhilCycling’s National Open rolls on in Tagaytay
SLOTS for various national teams are up for grabs as PhilCycling’s National Open commences Tuesday and Wednesday in Tagaytay City. PhilCycling President and Tagaytay
City Mayor Abraham Tolentino said the race sanctioned by the Union Cycliste International (UCI) would cover 160 kilometers of an out-and- back course at the Tagaytay City In- ternational Convention Center. On Wednesday, the 40-km indi- vidual time trial will be staged in the same start-finish area. Both races start at 9 a.m.
The race would also allow the country’s elite riders to secure li- censes that are prerequisites in join- ing UCI-sanctioned races that in- clude the April 16 to 19 Le Tour de Filipinas, the Asian Cycling Cham-
pionships in Thailand in February, the Southeast Asian Games in Indo- nesia in November and the three- leg Track Asia Cup, which is also slated in 2011. The race would also serve as a selection process for members of the Under-23 and Junior (17-un- der) pool. Because of the absence of a wide base of women riders, a separate division for the cat- egory could not be staged, Tolen- tino explained. The event, which is an annual race of PhilCycling has been a ma- jor basis of selection for members of the national pool. Meanwhile, the national open for track and moun- tain bike would be staged early in the next cycling season.
JOSEF T. RAMOS
3 9 0 .250 200 338 AFP
20 14
35 (OT)
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