Otico stuns big guns, captures Malita Open men’s singles crown

title romps, outdueling and outlasting the top-ranked veteran Davis Cupper in long rallies on his way to a 6-2, 6-4 reversal in the semifinals.

T he two-time world champion Yulo peaked in subdivision 1 to lead the field at the OCBC Arena late Thursday, but slipped to No. 2 in the next two subdivisions for 8.5930 points and finish behind Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka, who scored 86.065 points.

Another Japanese, Takeru Kitazono, clinched the bronze medal with 85.431 to join Oka, Yulo and five other gymnasts in the world championships in scheduled September 30 to October 8 in Antwerp, Belgium.

T he Tokyo Olympian Yulo already qualified in floor exercise,

B esana was 28th in the men’s individual all-around with 73.531 points.

Yulo, John Ivan Cruz and Besana, Justin Ace de Leon and Jann Gwynn Timbang—gold medalists in the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games— however, placed seventh overall and missed a world championships berth.

T he Philippines got 237.193 points in the team event dominated by China (256.762), Japan (256.694) and Kazakhstan (246.828). Vietnam SEA Games gold medalist Aleah Finnegan, Ancilla Lucia Mari Manzano, Kylee Ann Kvamme, Lucia Gutierrez and debuting Emma Malabuyo competed in the women’s artistic team event late Friday.

T he Filipino-American Malabuyo was an alternate for Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Gilas Pilipinas vs Dominican Republic: Classic battle 45 years in the making

FOR the first time in 45 years, the Philippines will be the setting for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup.

M anila will play host—alongside Okinawa (Japan) and Jakarta (Indonesia)—to the best of the best players in the meet scheduled from August 25 to September 10.

A ngola, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Sudan and the United States will all be first up front and center for Filipinos to watch in the group phase. The last time the Philippines served as venue was in 1978 when the tournament was still called the FIBA World Championship.

It was the first time the showcase was held in an Asian country with the Araneta Coliseum and Rizal Memorial Coliseum as stages.

Now, the Big Dome in Quezon City will again welcome global basketball with arms wide open, this time alongside Pasay City’s SM Mall of Asia Arena and for the opening day the Philippine Arena.

The Bulacan venue is expected to be at full capacity when world No. 10 Italy faces scrappy Angola in the opener at 4 p.m. and home team in the Malita Open in Davao Occidental Friday. The 24-year-old Otico earlier ended Johnny Arcilla’s string of Open

Gilas Pilipinas battles the Dominican Republic at 8 p.m. on August 25.

A record-breaking number of fans is expected to cheer Gilas in its quest for its first win in the world championship on home soil.

The highly-anticipated opening day matchups will be surrounded by other attractions as celebrities will be in attendance and tournament organizers are preparing a show featuring top local musical acts, booths for local and global event partners and other gimmicks that will give fans a truly world-class experience.

T icket holders for the opening day games at the Philippine Arena can avail themselves of free shuttle services from major transportation hubs with 400 buses deployed for this purpose.

Fans can enjoy all of the above for as low as P999 for two games per single day pass.

T ickets are already on sale at https://philippines-ticketing. worldcup.basketball/, with several packages and day passes from which to choose.

Filipino fans are hoping for an improvement on Gilas’s unsatisfactory performance in the previous World Cup in China, while the No. 23 Dominicans are eyeing to better their 2-3 record from 2019.

He then shattered Pague with a key break in the ninth game of the fiercely-fought first set of the finals then sustained his assault with two breaks in the next frame for a 5-1 count at the Malita Tennis Club. Pague did hold serve in the seventh then broke Otico in the next but the

Maramag, Bukidnon find, playing out of Loyola Marymount U in Los Angeles, broke back in the ninth to wrap up the victory worth P80,000.

No. 5 Alexei Santos of University of Santo Tomas capped the day of the lesser lights as she produced her own stunner in women’s singles, beating top seed Tennielle Madis, 6-3, 6-2, to pocket the top prize of P30,000 in the 10-day event also held as part of the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

O tico, a finalist in the recent Manila Open, worked his way into contention with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Eric Tangub following a walkover win in the opening round of the event hosted by Mayor Bradly Bautista.

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