By Marlon Bernardino
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Filipino Ronato Alcano stayed on course for a historic achievement in the 32nd US Open at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, late Friday.

Unshaken by a loss in his previous outing, Alcano raced to a 10-0 lead and went on to post an 11-3 victory over Louis Ulrich, moving within three wins of becoming the first player ever to reign in the World Pool Championship, World 8-Ball Championship and US Open at the same time.

He won the world 9-ball title last year and the world 8-ball crown early this year.

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By Marc Anthony Reyes
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Bowling Hall of Famer Bong Coo thinks the dwindling international wins by Filipinos is due to lack of mental toughness.

“We see that our players lack mental toughness — the abilities are there but not the staying power,” said Coo. “We tend to take the lead in competitions but fade later on. That’s why our gold medals are getting fewer.”

To revive the killer instinct of the bowlers, Coo, the Philippine Bowling Congress secretary general, announced that a coach who will train them for mental toughness has been hired for the coming Southeast Asian Games campaign in December.

The four-time world champion and five-time Asian Games gold winner said the PBC has tapped the services of sports psychologist Marissa Adviento of Ateneo de Manila University to psyche up the 12-man team that will defend the overall title in Thailand.

“In practice we are good, but somehow, especially in team competition where every game counts, we need more improvement,” she said. “We must know how to perform under pressure. Hopefully in two months time we can achieve that.”

Coo said the Filipino keglers hope to duplicate if not surpass the four gold medals they won two years ago in the Philippines.

By Marc Anthony Reyes
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–The country has a strong chance at the women’s beach volleyball gold if the Southeast Asian Games were to be held today.

Tony Boy Liao, manager of the Fil-Am tandem of Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua, made this bold claim Wednesday, noting that the bronze medalists of the 2005 SEAG are now in “top shape.”

“If the SEA Games is held today, there’s a strong chance we can win the (beach volley) gold medal,” said Liao. “And I’m not discounting the fact that the SEA Games will be held in Thailand.”

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By Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–The World Boxing Council has issued another call for super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico to defend his title against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao in his next fight.

Marquez is slated to defend his title against Rocky Juarez on Nov. 3, and should he come out victorious, WBC president Jose Sulaiman wants him to stake his 130-lb title against Pacquiao.

If Juarez pulls off an upset, Sulaiman said he would also be mandated to defend against the Filipino boxing icon.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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