ALCALA ENTERS HK BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP YOUNG gun Malvinne Alcala scored two wins to enter the main


draw of the Hong Kong Super Series Badminton Championship Wednesday at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong. JOSEF T. RAMOS


A 8


BY JUN MEDINA SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT


sports The Manila Times THURSDAY D ecember 9, 2010 ANNY “PacMan” Pacquiao’s


renowned trainer Freddie Roach is open to a super fight between


Pacquiao and world middleweight champion


Sergio Martinez “at the right weight.” Roach did not mention a specific


catch weight, but Martinez has in- dicated his willingness to go down to junior middleweight (154 pounds) should Pacquiao be inter- ested in defending his latest world championship against him. “I’d like to see [Pacquiao] fight Martinez at the right weight,” Roach


creasingly doomed by Mayweather’s legal problems. “Mayweather, with what he has going on in his life right now—I think he has to handle that before he can even talk about fighting,” Roach said. “Sergio Martinez at the right weight, I think, can be the most exciting fight out there.”


to win eight world titles in different weight classes would defeat the 35- year-old Martinez. “He’s a good athlete,” Roach said. “I don’t think he’s a great fighter. He’s fast.”


Martinez was ranked third in the


said Monday night at a media round- table as reported in FightNews.com by Anthony Springer Jr. Roach thinks Pacquiao-Martinez is the biggest possible fight in the horizon, as the much-awaited show- down between the Filipino boxing superstar with unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. appears in-


Arcilla blasts opponents, enter PCA quarterfinals


DEFENDING champion Johnny Arcilla underscored his title reten- tion bid following a 6-2, 6-0 demo- lition of unseeded Arvin Ruel in the 29th Philippine Columbian Asso- ciation (PCA) Open at the PCA claycourts in Paco, Manila. Arcilla advanced to quarterfinals against the winner between Rolando Ruel Jr. and Arcie Mano in the tourna- ment presented by Cebuana Lhuillier. Veteran Patrick John Tierro also marched into the quarterfinals at the expense of Alexander Lazaro, 6- 4, 6-2, along with Ralph Kevin Barte who escaped Mark Antony Alco- seba, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. In the ladies’ singles, Filipino- American Desirae Krawczyk proved that her Phinma International Juniors crown was no fluke as she outlasted third seed Michelle Pang, 7-5, 6-4. The 16-year-old Krawczyk doused


cold water on the former national team member’s attempted come- back with seven break points. “I had a hard time. She’s good,” said


Krawczyk after more than an hour of nonstop tennis action in the tourna-


Yankees, Derek Jeter finalize $51- million deal


THE New York Yankees and captain Derek Jeter have finalized a $51-mil- lion, three-year contract, scheduling a Tuesday press conference to dis- cuss the deal to keep their superstar. Shortstop Jeter and the club had re- portedly reached a preliminary agree- ment Saturday on the deal, which also includes a player option for 2014. Jeter, who has become the face of the storied franchise over the past decade, was coming off a $189 mil- lion, 10-year contract. The Yankees initially offered him a $45-million, three-year deal. Jeter had a .270 batting average


with 10 homers last season, down from a .334 average and 18 homers the prior campaign.


While his RBIs increased by one to 67, his on-base percentage fell from .406 to .340 and his slugging average dropped from .465 to .370. After negotiations that were more contentions than many expected, Jeter—who originally wanted a four- or five-year deal—will get an aver- age of about $16 million a season. The guaranteed portion of the contract includes a $3-million buyout if the option is declined. The player option can escalate de- pending on various bonus scenarios, including on his finish in American League Most Valuable Player voting, league championship series Most Valuable Player voting, Gold Glove or Silver Slugger awards.


AFP


ment presented by Cebuana Lhuillier. Krawczyk also expressed her in- tent to join the Philippine team in the next international tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.


In another surprising turn, unseeded Maika Tanpoco also pulled an upset victory over sixth pick Regina Santiago, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, to arrange a match against Krawczyk in the quarterfinals. Also making their way into the next round are sisters Anna Clarice and Anna Christine Patrimonio who did not have a hard time dis- posing of their respective rivals. Top seed Anna Clarice beat Marian Capadocia, 6-4, 6-1, while second pick Anna Christine bested Linda Santos, 6-1, 6-1.


Other ladies’ singles winners are


Tamitha Nguyen, Marinel Rudas, Louise Lopez and Martina Guba. Nguyen overpowered Aileen Roga, 6- 3, 6-4; Rudas defeated Macy Gonzales, 6-4, 6-3; Lopez pounced 6- 3, 6-1; and Guba trounced Akiko de Guzman, 6-4, 6-3. EMIL C. NOGUERA


AFP PHOTO


A Congolese wrestler that goes by the name of Texas calls upon his ancestors during a wrestling fight in Kinshasa. Texas is powerful magician wrestler in a discipline mixing martial art, African magic and theater.


East Asia sports council picks PSC’s Garcia as chairman


SPORTS ministers of Brunei, In- donesia and Malaysia unani- mously retained Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richie Garcia as chairman of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Phil- ippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Sports Council in a meeting Tuesday night at the Cen- tury Park Hotel.


The position was actually inher- ited from previous Chairman Harry Angping, but being new in the BIMP-EAGA Sports Council, Garcia gave it to the members to decide for themselves who shall be the new chairman. All delegates attending the gathering unani- mously voted to retain Garcia,


who will be hosting the seventh Friendship Games in Mindanao. “I’m happy and proud to be cho- sen as head of the BIMP-EAGA Sports Council. I expressed my heartfelt gratitude to all ministers for their confidence in me,” said Garcia after the meeting.


Despite the cancellation of the Friendship Games supposedly scheduled in November 2010 in Davao City because of financial con- straint, the sports officials are look- ing forward to the staging of the sev- enth edition in 2012 either in Davao City or Gen. Santos City.


Garcia said that the problem with Gen. Santos City is the absence of a golf course, which is one of the eight


sports disciplines to be contested in the meet aimed toward developing closer relationship among countries in the East Asia region. The PSC czar, who assumed his post in July, said that it would im- possible to hold the event next year because of the Southeast Asian Games hence they decided to stage the event in 2012 after the London Olympics. “We have yet to decide on the


venue, but for sure it will be in Mindanao because it is the focus area of EAGA,” added Garcia. Other sports included in the meet


are sepak takraw, badminton, karatedo, table tennis, pencak-silat, chess and marathon. Each delega-


tion is entitled to field a maximum of five athletes per sports events. Among those attending the gath- ering are Haji Mohd Zamri Ham- dami, deputy director of Brunei Min- istry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr. Bambang Nugroho, secretary general of West Papua, Indonesia Sports Council, Penyuki Matta, deputy per- manent secretary of Sabah, Malaysia Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dr. Nukhrawi Nawir Kes, head of Sula- wesi Selatan Province of Indonesia, Abdul Rahman Laman, director of Sabah, Malaysia Sports Council and Gilbert Chin Hsing Lin, senior assistant officer of Perbadanan Labuan, Malaysia.


FRANK CALAPRE Oosthuizen seeks good luck as Road to Dubai begins


REIGNING British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen hopes for a change of luck when the 2011 Road- to-Dubai circuit begins on Thursday in the South African bush. Since the 28-year-old native of Mossel Bay in the western Cape stunned the golf world in July with a runaway victory at hallowed Saint Andrews, lady luck has jilted him several times. He was sidelined after tearing


ankle ligaments when stepping into a pothole while hunting and a brace will protect the injury during the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club near eastern town Malelane.


Oosthuizen also wants to shake


off a mystery bug blamed for a two- over last-place finish three days ago in his first appearance at the Sun City Challenge invitation tournament. “My concentration levels were not


great. I made a lot of birdies but I also made a lot of bogeys. I have no idea what hit me but do not think it was food poisoning,” he told reporters. The Open champion—who has switched to the US Tour when their 2011 season gets underway—was up- set as he desperately wanted to test his mettle against the likes of world No. 1 Lee Westwood of England, who won at a canter and local favorite Ernie Els. “Winning the British Open


changed my mindset. I am much more confident now and every time I go to the first tee at a tournament all I am thinking about is finishing first,” he said.


Oosthuizen is the star attraction at the South African and European co-sanctioned 1-million-euro Dun- hill event on a course South Afri- can legend Gary Player designed and many pundits rate the best in the country.


LEDESMA DOMINATES MAKATI TABLE TENNIS TILT


VETERAN Ting Ledesma captured his second men’s singles open title Wednesday in the 2010 Mayor Junjun Binay Cup National Table Tennis Championship at the Makati Coliseum. The 38-year-old Ledesma showed


his deadly form outclassing Andrew Timson, a 21-year-old player from Bacolod City, 11-7, 14-12, 10-12, 11-5, in the finals, “It’s very inspiring to be in the national team again but you need to prove yourself that you are really a national player, so I played hard tonight


and earned another deserving award,” said Ledesma, who just qualified to join the Philippine team last month in time for this year’s Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championship. Ledesma, the president of the


Metropolitan Table Tennis Association is


also a board member of the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines. This is the second time Ledesma


won in the Makati national table tennis tournament. He won his first men’s open singles title in the same contest in 2009.


B-Meg Derby Ace routs Meralco Bolts in PBA All-Filipino Cup


NIÑO CAÑALETA exploded with four triples in the fourth period to power B-Meg Derby Ace’s 92-73 victory over Meralco Bolts Wednes- day in the 36th Philippine Basket- ball Association (PBA) All-Filipino Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Cañaleta’s firepower ignited the Llamados fiery intensity that enabled them to lead by a wide margin turning the expected closely fought match into a lopsided affair starting in the final half.


“It’s a good game for KG [Cañaleta]. He delivered again. I hope it’s already a break-through for us. At the time PJ Simon was out, at least KG stepped up. Our guards did well that it shortened Meralco’s rotation,” said Llamados coach Jorge Gallent. The 6’4” forward Cañaleta’s spirited play moved the Llamados into solo fourth with a 7-6 slate behind San Miguel Beer (11-3), Ginebra (9-3) and Talk ‘N Text (9-3)


while Meralco dropped to a tie with Alaska at the fifth spot with identical 6-7 card. “James [Yap] had a bad back


pain yesterday. He was supposed to take on Mac-Mac [Cardona], that’s why we used Marc [Pingris] instead. He is our top defensive man against Cardona. We can relax now before playing Barako Bull in our next game,” added Gallent. A native of Tarlac, the 30-year- old Cañaleta, a sixth overall pick by


Air 21 in 2005, went on to finish with 22 points including a high six- of-seven attempts in the three- point zone on top of 7 rebounds that practically doused cold water to Meralco’s defense. Even as Meralco tried hard to


give the Llamados a good game, their effort fell short of expecta- tions against Canaleta, Jonas Villanueva, James Yap and Don Allado’s run-and-gun rampage from start to finish.


The scores: B-Meg Derby Ace 92 - Cañaleta


22, Villanueva 13, Yap J. 13, Allado 10, Maierhofer 9, Yap R. 9, Pingris 7, Salvador 4, Adducul 4, Gaco 1, Acuna 0, Simon 0.


Meralco 73 - Cardona 22, Ross


13, Taulava 10, Omolon 8, Espinas 6, Thiele 5, Escobal 4, Menor 2, Aljamal 2, Belga 1, Weinstein 0, Pacana 0. Quarters: 29-23, 53-42, 70-60, 92-73. FRANK CALAPRE


JOSEF T. RAMOS AFP


Martinez knocked out Paul Williams in the second round to defend his World Boxing Council middleweight title on November 20 in a sensational victory that cata- pulted the late-blooming Argentine champion among the top elite box- ers in the world today. But in Roach’s assessment, Pac- quiao, the only fighter in the world


Ring’s latest Top 10 pound-for-pound best in the world. Pacquiao is on top of the list, with Mayweather at sec- ond place. The week before, Pacquiao liter- ally beat down three-time Mexican world welterweight champion Antonio Margarito to win the vacant WBC junior middleweight title va- cated by Martinez.


Margarito had stopped Martinez in the seventh round of a 10-


RAMOS RULES PHILCYCLING RACE MERCULIO RAMOS dominated the 40-kilometer


individual time trial of the PhilCycling National Open for Road race with a 56 minutes and 59.78-time record, Wednesday in Balayan, Batangas. JOSEF T. RAMOS


Pacquiao-Martinez fine, if weight is right – Roach M


rounder to become the first fighter to defeat Martinez in a battle of welter title contenders on February 19, 2000 at the Mandalay Bay Ca- sino Hotel in Las Vegas. Martinez avenged his only other defeat, a disputed majority decision loss to Williams in December 2009, via a convincing “Knock Out of the Year” candidate on November 20. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of


Top Rank is not receptive to a PacMan-Martinez match-up because of the big weight and size disparities. Arum told this writer in a previ- ous interview that the only way Pacquiao would fight Martinez is “at welterweight,” which is like shutting the door to the potential mega fight


Eclectic discipline


Charlotte Bobcats triumph over Nuggets


THE Charlotte Bobcats denied Denver coach George Karl his 1,000th NBA victory on Tuesday, edg- ing the Nuggets 100-98. Karl, who played university basket- ball in North Carolina, was vying to become the seventh coach to notch 1,000 victories in the league. The Nuggets very nearly delivered the landmark win as they rallied from eight points down with 90 seconds to play, but they fell short as Chauncey Billups missed a tying jump shot at the buzzer.


Billups scored 25 points and Carmelo Anthony added 22 points and 7 rebounds for the Nuggets, who had won seven straight games. Stephen Jackson scored 23 points for Charlotte. Nine of them came in the fourth quarter, when he drained back-to-back three-pointers to give the Bobcats a 95-88 lead with 3:23 remaining. Boris Diaw’s bucket with 1:35 to


play made it 99-91. But Denver surged back. After a three-point attempt by Jackson failed to hit the rim, the Nuggets had an opportunity to tie, but Billups’ jumper shot didn’t fall. Karl, 59, will have another chance at a 1,000th victory at Bos- ton on Wednesday.


Charlotte coach Larry Brown, a long-time friend of Karl’s and fellow former University of North Carolina player, was the last coach to reach the 1,000-win mark. Brown said he especially admired


what Karl has accomplished, given that he missed the final two months last season as he battled throat and neck cancer.


The Bobcats’ victory gave Brown his 1,326th win in the NBA and now defunct American Basketball Associa- tion—leaving him 10 short of the record held by Don Nelson.


AFP


»NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS AND STANDINGS


New England 45 NY Jets 3 STANDINGS


AMERICAN CONFERENCE WLT PCT PF PA


AFC East Division New England 10 2 0 .833 379 269 NY Jets Miami


9 3 0 .750 267 232 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 WLT PCT PF PA


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


San Francisco 4 8 0 .333 203 259 Arizona


3 9 0 .250 200 338 AFP


because the last time the Argentine star fought at 147 was nine years ago. “On paper, Pacquiao vs. Martinez


looks very interesting and even in- triguing,” Arum said. “The point is: would Martinez be willing to come down in weight to fight Manny? Asked if the junior middleweight limit of 154 be a good catch weight, Arum quipped: “No way. Manny is great, but he’s not Superman!” The highest weight Pacquiao has fought was at the 150-pound catch weight against Margarito. And al- though PacMan dominated the tough Mexican American and broke his jaw in a near complete shutout, the Filipino champion also got his worst beating in his major fights.


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