Mr. HAIYANG WANG Chinese

Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Sports BusinessMirror

Friday, June 18, 2021 B7

FIVE-FOOT-10 Sam Josef Belangel defies the 6-foot-6 Seounghyun Lee sinks the win-clinching three-pointer

off balanced. FIBA.BASKETBALL

SJ BELANGEL: IT’S ALL ABOUT HEART

By Josef Ramos

POOMSAE JINS BRING HOME 2 GOLDS, 3 SILVERS, 5 BRONZES FROM LEBANON

DARIUS VENERABLE and the mixed freestyle team won gold medals while three clinched silvers and five bagged bronzes in the recent sixth World Taekwondo Asian Poomsae Championships at the Nouhad Naufal Indoor Stadium in Beirut.

Venerable scored 7.74 points in winning the over-17 gold medal, with South Korea’s Sam Yeop Kim (7.64) settling for the silver medal and Iran’s Mohammad Gomorian (7.30) bagging the bronze.

“It’s very fulfilling on our part to win medals because it’s a very different experience now… like you stay and train inside the bubble and take a lot of swab tests,” poomsae head coach Rani Ann Ortega said.

“The players trained in their respective homes, so when we went to Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba for the bubble training, it wasn’t hard anymore for us,” Ortega added.

Janna Olivia, Juvenile Crisostomo, Jeordan Dominguez, Justin Kobe Macario and Marvin Mori topped the mixed freestyle (over17) event and Pakistan (7.773.47). Only two countries participated in the event.

Venerable partnered with Juvenile Crisostomo and clinched a silver medal in the mixed pair over-17 category, while Oliva settled for another silver in the women’s individual freestyle over17 event. June Ninobla accounted for the third silver medal in men’s individual under-60 class.

Jocel Lyn Ninobla settled for two bronzes in the women’s individual under-30 and women’s team under-30 event with Rinna Babanto and Aidaine Laxa. Babanto grabbed a bronze in the mixed doubles under-30 event with Patrick King Perez.

Joaquin Tuazon, Perez and Rodolfo Reyes pocketed the bronze in the men’s team under-30, with Reyes also clinching a bronze medal in the men’s individual under-30 event.

Venerable and Crisostomo were named Most Valuable

Players. Josef Ramos

World champions back Dasmariñas

MICHAEL DASMARIÑAS climbs the ring an underdog against International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue this Sunday in Las Vegas.

But he has all the morale support he needs from Filipino world champions Johnriel “Quadro Alas” Casimero and Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr.

“It’s time to show the world that he’s one of the best fighters in the world,” Casimero said on Thursday. “I hope he will take advantage of this opportunity. I know he prepared so hard for this fight and I’ll be watching him from ringside.”

Casimero is currently in Las Vegas preparing for his August 14 showdown with Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic gold medalists Guillermo Rigondeaux. He was supposed to fight Inoue April last year, but the pandemic canceled the bout.

Donaire, on the other hand, advised Dasmariñas not to fear Inoue.

“He has to show his best and he shouldn’t be afraid with the name Inoue. Just like anybody else, he’s just a human being,” Donaire said.

“If Inoue can do it, I know Michael can also do it,” said Donaire, who lost to Inoue in November 2019 via unanimous decision in Saitama, Japan.

But Donaire redeemed himself with a devastating fourth-round technical knockout win against Frenchman Nordine Oubaali in Carson City to snatch the World Boxing Council bantamweight belt.

The Pili (Camarines Norte) pride Dasmariñas is fighting Inoue at the Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas with spectators. Josef Ramos CALL him Mr. Stabilizer despite being diminutive at 5-foot-10 and young at 21. On Wednesday night, Sam Josef “SJ” Belangel played like a giant, displayed the basketball IQ of a veteran and add to his CV—a pair of hot shooting hands that delivered the killer blow against a team that denied the Philippines of a win for a long eight years.

Belangel, Gilas Pilipinas’s wily point guard, received the inbounds pass with 2.7 seconds remaining and the score tied at 78-all.

The Ateneo standout had no recourse but to shake off his South Korean guard, Seounghyun Lee, who was practically all over him near the sideline. But Belangel wouldn’t be denied—with a 6-foot-6 Lee blocking his line of sight to the basket, the Ateneo Blue Eagle improvised with an offbalanced three-pointer.

Swoooshhh! The Filipinos edged the Koreans, 81-78, sending the country to the Fiba Asia Cup in Jakarta in August and ending an eight-year curse that hounded the country since that historic 2013 victory over the Koreans at the MOA Arena.

“I felt I had the confidence to make that shot,” Belangel told BusinessMirror on Thursday. “You need that confidence inside the last three seconds. It’s all about heart and I’m happy we did it.”

That wasn’t even the play head coach Tab Baldwin designed after calling back-to-back timeouts in the game’s most crucial moment.

Dwight Ramos, Gilas’s top scorer with 16 points, was tasked to take the final shot—a quick two-pointer.

Ramos was the designated inbounder and was supposed to pass to either Ange Kouame or Carl Tamayo and get the ball back for a quick conversion. That didn’t happen and as they say, the rest is history.

Belangel finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists for Gilas which has gone undefeated in four games.

“He [Belangel] stabilized us a lot and made the big plays, especially the last shot,” Baldwin said. “We are very fortunate and I am happy for the players.”

On Friday, Belangel and his fellow Gilas cadets will face Indonesia, which reeled to its third loss in four Group A games at the hands of South Korea, 104-81, on Thursday afternoon. The Koreans improved to 3-1 won-lost and are now also going to Jakarta.

For Belangel, the Indonesians are no easy foes.

“It’s not going to be easy facing Indonesia. We have to treat this as a championship game for us, we have to win every possession, step by step, and we must not be complacent,” said Belangel, an Interdisciplinary Studies junior who has three more years of eligibility for the Blue Eagles in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

The Philippines-Indonesia match is set at 6 p.m. again at the Angeles University Foundation Gym. Japan and Chinese Taipei square off at 2:30 p.m. in a Group B match in the third and final window of the qualifiers.

The Filipinos will challenging an Indonesian side that has former Gilas head coach Rajko Toroman as tactician and exPhilippine Basketball Association import Lester Prosper as the team’s naturalized player.

And Belangel stressed that close victory on Wednesday reared cracks on the team that need mending.

“There’s a lot of things to improve. Yes, we celebrated the victory over Korea, but it’s now back to work for all of us,” Belangel said.

Eala, partner out in quarters

ALEX EALA and partner Victoria Jimenez Kasintsevas saw their run come to an end after losing to American Ashley Lahey and Australian Olivia Tjandramulia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-10, in the doubles competition of the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour W25 Madrid at the Ciudad de la Raqueta in Spain.

The defeat ended a tough day for the talented 16-year-old, Eala, a Globe ambassador who earlier in the day lost to fifth-seed Andrea Lazaro Garcia of Spain, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, in the singles competition.

In the doubles contest, Eala and Andorran Jimenez Kasintsevas got off to a fantastic start as they led 3-0. But Lahey-Tjandramulia found their bearings and won the next four games to surge in front, 4-3.

The set was tied at 5-5 but Lahey and Tjandramulia broke Eala and Jimenez Kasintsevas’s serve to go up, 6-5, and then, held their serve to win the first set, 7-5.

Eala and Jimenez Kasintsevas found themselves in trouble in the second set, 1-3. Fortunately, they found their second wind and won four straight games, capped by a break of their opponents’ serve to move in front, 5-3.

Lahey and Tjandramulia retaliated with a break of their own to stay alive, 4-5, but Eala and Jimenez Kasintsevas answered with another break to capture the second set, 6-4, and force a third set decider

In the race to 10 affair, Eala and Jimenez Kasintsevas jumped to a 3-0 lead but could not sustain their momentum, committing two double faults to trail, 4-5.

Lahey and Tjandramulia eventually cruised to the 10-6 win in the third set to secure the match and a place in the semifinals.

DIJ RODRIGUEZ trains on Nakhom Pathom’s sand in Thailand.

THE Philippine beach volleyball teams set in motion their bid for Tokyo Olympic berths in the semifinals of the Asian Volleyball Confederation Continental Cup on Friday in Nakhom Pathom, Thailand.

Japan looking to relax virus emergency ahead of Games

TOKYO—Japan is expected to ease a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and most other areas this weekend, with new daily cases falling just as the country begins making final preparations for the Olympics starting in just over a month.

Japan has been struggling since late March to slow a wave of infections propelled by more contagious variants, with new daily cases soaring above 7,000 at one point and seriously ill patients straining hospitals in Tokyo, Osaka and other metropolitan areas.

Daily cases have since subsided significantly and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to downgrade the state of emergency when it expires on Sunday to a less-stringent quasi-emergency for several weeks.

Despite concerns raised by medical experts and the public over the potential risks of holding the Olympics, Suga has said he is determined to hold a “safe and secure” games starting July 23.

Holding the Olympics before elections in the autumn is also a political gamble for Suga, whose support ratings have tumbled due to public dissatisfaction over his virus measures, a vaccination drive criticized as being too slow, and lack of a clear explanation of how he will ensure the virus doesn’t spread during the Olympics.

Government-appointed experts met Wednesday to analyze the situation ahead of Suga’s decision on the emergency measures and expressed concern about the potential for infections to climb again after measures are eased. Suga is expected to make a final decision Thursday after more meetings.

Suga placed Tokyo, Osaka and two other areas under a state of emergency in late April and has since expanded the area to 10 prefectures and extended the measures twice. Japan does not enforce hard lockdowns and the state of emergency allows prefectural leaders to order closures or shorter hours for non-essential business in return for compensation to those who comply and fines for violators. Stay-at-home and other measures for the general population are only requests and are increasingly ignored. AP

PHL beach volley teams start bid for Tokyo berths

Bannered by Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons, the women’s team will have its hands full against powerhouse Japan and New Zealand, with the men facing the same daunting task against Australia, Japan, Kazakhstan and Lebanon.

The other women’s pair of Dij Rodriguez and Babylove Barbon as well as the men’s tandems of Jaron Requinton and James Buytrago and Jude Garcia and Anthony Arbasto complete the Philippine campaign backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) partner Rebisco.

Rondina, the most experienced on the team having competed in the Rio 2014 qualifiers, said she will be treating every match like a championship game.

“In this set up, it’s a do or die game because one win, you’re in the final, and one loss, you’re out,” Rondina said. “This is a rare opportunity for us, facing very strong teams because we’ve been battling teams in the Southeast Asian regions.”

Charo Soriano, PNVF’s beach volleyball commission chair, thanked the federation’s supporters as the country goes for potential berths in Tokyo.

“It’s really a collaborative effort among the PSC, PNVF, Rebisco, Taguig City, Ilocos Norte and all those who are supporting the sport,” Soriano said. “I have much respect for everyone who planned, strategized and made this opportunity possible for our athletes.”

The Philippines, according to PNVF President Ramon “Tats” Suzara, qualified for the Continental Cup semifinals by virtue of the bronze medal finishes in both the men’s and women’s divisions in the 2019 SEA Games.

Only the No. 1 teams in both genders will advance to the Tokyo Olympics. The finals are set on June 24.

This is the country’s first international competition in volleyball since the 2019 SEA Games and also for the PNVF since its establishment in January.

Joining the players and Soriano are national coaches Paul Jan Doloiras and Rhovyl Verayo as well as alternates Gen Eslapor and Mer Jauculan.

The Continental Cup are being played under strict safety and health protocols. The pairings will be determined after Thursday’s general technical meeting.