By INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–International boxing champion Manny Pacquiao broke his silence on allegations he had an affair with actress Ara Mina.

Pacquiao told GMA-7’s “Showbiz Central” on Sunday that his relationship with the actress was strictly professional and never went beyond the set.

“Magkaibigan lang kami at saka may movie kami. Almost finished na yung movie. Nasa 70 percent na kami. Alam mo na pagka-ganoon, may mga intri-intriga,” Manny said in the interview.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Inquirer

LONATO, ITALY–Young karting ace Jean Stefano Marcelo overcame a bent chassis and a start far down the final grid to finish 10th in a field of 96 in the 2007 ROK World Cup at the South Garda Karting Track over the weekend.

The 14-year-old Filipino thus became the first Southeast Asian to land in the top 10 of the ROK Senior class in the world’s toughest karting competition.

Marcelo completed the final 20-lap race in 15 minutes and 15.747 seconds, highlighting his rally with a best lap time of 44.847 seconds which threatened the 44.811 seconds posted by eventual champion Emanuele Pagani of Italy.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Inquirer

CEBU CITY–Here’s Manny Pacquiao’s reply to lightweight king Juan Diaz’s challenge:

“If the price is right,” said the Filipino ring icon.

The retort came after Diaz unified three lightweight titles in his bout against Julio Diaz Sunday in Chicago when the latter failed to answer the bell in the ninth round.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–A day after securing the second of three grandmaster norms he needs to become a full-fledged GM, Wesley So lost his match against Indian International Master Abhijeet Gupta in the 10th round Saturday of the World Juniors and Girls Chess Championships at the T. Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia.

The 14-year-old from Bacoor, Cavite, resigned after 38 moves of a Sicilian Defense, Ritzer Rauzer Attack, and fell out of contention with just three rounds left in the tournament.

The loss was the third for So, who also has five victories and two draws.

The standings:

7.5 points — GM Wang Hao (China), GM Ivan Popov (Russia), IM Grigoryan Avetik (Armenia); 7.0 — GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt), GM Georg Meier (Germany), GM Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), IM Abhijeet Gupta (India); 6.5 — GM Arman Pashikian (Armenia), GM Daniel Stellwagen (Netherlands), GM Victor Laznicka (Czech Republic), IM Marcus Ragger (Austria), IM Davit Jojua (Georgia),Viacheslav Kulakov (Russia); 6.0 — IM Wesley So (Philippines),GM Maxim Rodshtein (Israel), GM Parimarjan Negi (India), GM David Howell (England), GM Gawain Jones (England), IM Daan Brandenburg (Netherlands), IM Evgeny Romanov (Russia), IM Gogineni Rohit (India), IM Gopal Narayanan (India), IM Fidel Corrales (Cuba), IM Tamas Banusz (Hungrary), IM Hrant Melkumyan (US). Report from Marlon Bernardino, Contributor

By June Navarro
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Loaded with talent on paper, Magnolia translated that fearsome reputation into a more concrete form Sunday night.

Danny Seigle and Dondon Hontiveros presided over the Beverage Masters’ high-octane offense that dazzled the Air21 Express, 121-112, at the start of the 2007-2008 Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Firing a game-high 28 points, Seigle conspired with Hontiveros in a third-quarter onslaught that transformed a double-digit deficit to an imposing lead the Express couldn’t overturn.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Virginie Montet
Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON–He sleeps on a bench, but he is king of chess during the day at Washington’s Dupont Circle, where he dazzles beginners and masters alike with his winning moves on the park’s stone chessboards.

Tom Murphy, 49, makes what little money he has from teaching his prodigious knowledge of the game to passersby for a few dollars.

“He has the title of expert in chess. This is the second highest American title; above him are master. So it means he is quite good,” said Washington’s Chess Center director David Mehler.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Beth Celis
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Typical of this so-called cyber age, the discovery of Filipino-American national player Vicky Brick from the University of Maryland, a Division I US NCAA squad, came through the Internet.

And SBP executive director Patrick Gregorio was the one who tracked her down.

“I was searching the US NCAA website one day, in an effort to find a Fil-Am talent for our ladies national team, when I came across Vicky’s photo,” Pato recounted.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Musong R. Castillo
Inquirer

Game Sunday (Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies
6:30 p.m. — Air21 vs Magnolia

MANILA, Philippines–Robert Jaworski’s much-anticipated return to the Philippine Basketball Association is not about to happen — at least for the coming Philippine Cup that opens Sunday.

The one-time MVP, many-time champion player and winner of four PBA titles as a player-coach has told Air21 team manager Lito Alvarez to let Bo Perasol handle the team as he takes care of personal business matters in the United States.

“He told me to have coach Bo continue handling the team because he (Perasol) is a good coach,” Alvarez said. “He will just have to take care of some business matters in the States and that we will talk formally once he returns.”

[Read the rest of this entry »]

UNDEFEATED mixed martial arts fighter Filipino-American Brandon “The Truth” Vera takes on former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight kingpin Tim Sylvia at UFC 77: Hostile Territory.

Check out this trailer provided by our partner, Solar Sports.

For more videos from INQUIRER.net and our partners, visit iVDO.

CHECK out what Solar Sports has in store for you this October.

Video provided by Solar Sports, a partner of INQUIRER.net.

For more videos from INQUIRER.net and our partners, visit iVDO.