By Joey Alarilla
INQUIRER.net

HERE are clips of the long jump finals in the 11th International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Athletics being held in Osaka, Japan, courtesy of the YouTube channel of WCSN.com.

First, here’s a clip of the European champion, Andrew Howe of Italy, celebrating after making his final jump of 8.47 meters, which he thought would be enough to secure the gold.

It wasn’t.

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By Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK–Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang flirted with a no-hitter here Thursday as the New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 5-0 victory.

Wang took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Yankees insured they will maintain at least a tie with the Seattle Mariners in the American League wild card race.

The Yankees also narrowed the gap on American League East division leaders Boston to five games.

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By Manolo Iñigo
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–There is no question that Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga is the greatest Filipino basketball player in history, but little else is known about how he started his checkered career.

Loyzaga, who marks his 77th birth anniversary on Wednesday, was born on Aug. 29. 1930 to a family with a penchant for sports in San Jose, Mindoro. There, the Loyzaga boys organized a basketball team, with the tall and gangling Caloy at the helm.

Already showing signs of greatness and towering at 6-foot-3 (a rarity among local players at that time), the young Loyzaga moved from sandlot basketball in Mindoro to the big time in Manila by joining the star-studded Sta. Mesa Aces in 1942.

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By Marc Anthony Reyes
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Athens Olympians Tshomlee Go and Antoinette Rivero will spearhead a four-man Philippine team seeking Beijing Olympic slots in the world championship in Manchester, England, next month.

Philippine Taekwondo Association president Robert Aventajado said Asian Gamers Eunice Alora and Alex Briones also earned slots to the RP squad.

Except for Briones, Go, Rivero and Alora all won gold medals in their respective divisions in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in Manila.

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By Salven Lagumbay
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Orient-Pacific lightweight champion Randy Suico retained his title impressively while World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific super featherweight king Jimrex Jaca barely held on to his crown Saturday in the Battle for Supremacy: Philippines vs Japan card at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Suico was brilliant in stopping the taller Koji Samejima in 2 minutes and 23 seconds of the eighth round after knocking down his rival in the sixth.

Referee Bruce McTavish did not bother to count when Samejima fell like a log from a big Suico right in the eighth. Paramedics immediately went up the ring to help revive the challenger, who stood up after a few minutes.

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By June Navarro
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan Wednesday vowed to propose a “Magna Carta” for sports, an encompassing law which aims to cover all areas pertaining to the welfare of national athletes and the development of sports in the country.

Speaking before athletes and sports officials Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila, Honasan said the Magna Carta for sports could readily address critical issues on budget allocation and the continuity of programs.

“These are two vital issues crucial to the development of sports,” said Honasan, chair of the Senate committee on sports.

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By Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Filipino Lee Vann Corteza subdued American Louie Ulrich, 13-7, in the finals to pocket the top prize of $8,000 (about P368,000) Monday in the IX Turning Stone 9-Ball Tournament at the Turning Stone and Casino in Verona, New York.

The 28-year-old Corteza, top gun of Negros Billiard Stable, cruised to a 12-2 lead, but a scratch on the break let Ulrich back.

Ulrich won five straight racks to narrow the gap at 12-7. Ulrich’s break came up dry, however, and Corteza ran the last rack for the title.

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By Calvin Cordova
Inquirer

CEBU CITY, Philippines–There was a moment in the ring when those who spoke of a rumored rift between Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach would have found vindication.

While the Filipino boxing hero worked the mitts with his equally noted trainer, Pacquiao accidentally hit Roach’s abdomen hard enough to force a loud “ouch” from the American, and a chorus of laughter from the throng that packed the gym.

“It was a pretty strong punch and he hit me in one of my broken ribs, which has yet to heal completely,” said Roach. “I held my breath there for a while.”

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By Inquirer

CEBU, Philippines–Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao started his training here Wednesday, confident that he still has enough time to prepare for and inflict a second defeat on rival Marco Antonio Barrera when they trade leathers on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas.

“He started training today,” said Rex “Wakee” Salud, owner of the newly built gym where Pacquiao intends to put himself back into tiptop shape. “He looked good. He’s in high spirits and seems focused on the task at hand.”

Pacquiao started working out at 1 p.m. Wednesday, doing some shadow-boxing, pummeling the big bags and the speedball, jumping rope, and hitting the mitts. The session ended at around 4 p.m. with the reigning WBC super featherweight titlist sweating profusely.

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By Maria Congee S. Gomez
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—In his book, “Manila Rows: The story of the Manila Boat Club,” author Allan May wrote that the birth of rowing as a sport in the Philippines came about in 1888.

Most of those involved in the sport, however, were foreigners, particularly early English male settlers who ran commercial houses in the city.

Between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, these gentlemen formed the Manila Club, the forerunner of the Manila Boat Club.

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