SCHEDULE: Team Philippines at Asian Games 2026 gymnastics

The WTA Finals, the elite season-ending event in women’s tennis, will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the next three years in a move that organizers hope will create “the Super Bowl for women’s sports.” The tournament will be played at the Spectrum Center, home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, the WTA and the

NAGOYA, Japan  — How big are the Asian Games? Well, they are larger in numbers than the Summer Olympics, which gives you an idea of the magnitude and logistics. READ: Follow Inquirer Sports’ special coverage of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 The Paris Olympics in 2024 involved 10,700 athletes. The Asian Games 2026 will open Saturday

THE Philippine women’s volleyball team’s bid for a podium finish vanished after bowing to the tall Kazakhstan squad, 29-27, 24-26, 23-25, 19-25, in the Pool B at the 20th Asian Games on Wednesday at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium. Alas Pilipinas will be relegated to the classification round for 9th to 12th places as only the top two teams of each of the four groups will advance to the next round. Alas Pilipinas played well in the opening set and erased a 24-22 lead by Kazakhstan to claim an early 1-0 lead behind the solid plays by Eya Laure and Angel Canino. The Filipinos found themselves in the same scenario in the second and third frames where they kept the scores close with a chance to steal victory in the endgame. This time, the Kazakhs used their height to full advantage as they survived both rallies for a 2-1 advantage.   Alas Pilipinas, however, failed to sustain its intensity and tenacity in the fourth set as Kazakhstan pulled away with a 22-14 lead. Thea Gagate tried to lead a fightback with a kill block even as Kazakhstan made back-to-back errors that kept the Philippines alive. Canino converted a down-the-line hit to cut Kazakhstan’s lead down to 23-18. Bella Belen, however, made a costly attack error that sent Kazakhstan to match point advantage, 24-18, but Solomon continued to fight with a monster block, 24-19. Kristina Belova ended the Philippines’ hopes to advancing as she slammed the victory-clinching point. Canino scored a game-high performance of 24 points on 20 attacks, two aces and two blocks for the Philippines, while Solomon added 20 points. Tatyana Nikitina churned out nine 19 points for Kazakhstan as Zhanna Syroyeshkina backed her up with 17 points. Kazakhstan is ranked 42nd in the FIVB world rankings while the Philippines is No. 56. Kazakhstan will next face defending champion China while the Philippines begins its classification round games on Sunday.  Alas Pilipinas opened its bid here with an 18-25, 22-25, 25-8 setback to China last Wednesday. The Philippine women’s volleyball team has yet to win a medal in the Asian Games but finished at fourth place in 1962 and 1966.

CEBU CITY — The Cebu City government and advocacy group Bornwinner will stage a 2,500-participant running event on Nov. 15 to promote drug prevention and raise funds for a Special Drug Education Center. The Keep Going Cebu City Run for a Cause will form part of the city’s observance of Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week, with the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap) and Bornwinner organizing the event. The historic Plaza Independencia will serve as the race’s starting and finishing point. The fun run will offer 1K, 3K, 5K and 10K distance categories with entry fees of P750, P850, P950 and P1,150, respectively. Runners from outside Cebu City may also join through a virtual run for P950 regardless of distance. Registration includes a statement singlet, advocacy race bib, drawstring bag and a finisher’s medal. Participants can write on the advocacy bib what they want to advocate for, allowing the organizers to make the race part of a broader drug prevention message. Run ambassador Jid Durano, who said he has been recovering from drug addiction for six years, said the experiences of members of the organizing team in recovery influenced the event’s advocacy. “I think the key factor in the ongoing process is the organizing team behind it ... Mostly we are recovering. So, our program is anchored in the ideas that we want people to feel,” Durano said. The race singlet will carry Cebu City icons, including Magellan’s Cross, the Santo Niño de Cebu image, a traditional jeepney and the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway bridge. Organizers will hold a foam party and live performances by Midnasty and Durano after the race. Race director Diosdado Mabini Jr. said organizers are still securing approvals for the final route and coordinating with the city’s Technical Working Group and other concerned offices on traffic mitigation, roadworks and participant safety. The organizers expect the race to begin at 4 a.m. and finish by 6 a.m. They plan to use one side of each road instead of requesting full road closures. Cosap executive director Greg Rodriguez, who said he has been sober from alcohol for 11 years, said the activity will promote healthier lifestyles while highlighting prevention and recovery. Cosap will complement the race with other activities during Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week. The Cebu City event is part of the Keep Going series. The organizers will hold the Keep Going Tabogon Run in Tabogon, Cebu, on Oct. 18 and the Keep Going Maribojoc Run in Maribojoc, Bohol, on Nov. 20.

NAGOYA, Japan — How big are the Asian Games? Well, they are larger in numbers than the Summer Olympics, which gives you an idea of the magnitude and logistics. The Paris Olympics in 2024 involved 10,700 athletes. The Asian Games will open Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, with more than 11,000 athletes signed up. The number may be much larger as organizers have acknowledged a last-minute crush of athletes and officials attending. This has put pressure on available housing. The Asian Games were first held in 1951 in New Delhi, India. This is the 20th edition with games last held in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, where about 12,000 athletes attended. Those games were delayed a year by the pandemic. Of course, the Asian Games don’t have quite the star power of the Olympics. But there are big names and plenty of local stars from the 45 countries and regions entered from Afghanistan to Yemen. Many of these nations seldom make a dent at the Olympics. But they have a chance at the Asian Games. As a 12-year-old at last year’s swimming World Championships in Singapore, Yu Zidi finished fourth in her three races — the 200- and 400-meter individual medley and the 200 butterfly. She’s 13 now and will turn 14 in October. World records could fall with swimming taking center stage during the first six days of competition. China will likely dominate the swimming with Olympic gold medalists like Pan Zhanle, Wang Shun, Qin Haiyang and Xu Jiayu expected in the field. Pan holds the world record in the 100 freestyle and Qin has the mark in the 200 breaststroke. China topped all teams three years ago with 28 gold medals in swimming. Some call these the “China Games.” China won 201 gold medals at the last games, Japan had 52 with 42 for South Korea. The same overall dominance is expected with the Asian Games closing Oct. 4. South Korean An Se-young, the gold medalist in the 2024 Olympics and badminton’s No. 1-ranked female, is one to watch. She took gold three years ago in women’s singles in China and also picked up a team gold medal. She is fresh off winning her third straight China Masters title. She also took the world title earlier this year. “I have played in so many international tournaments that the Asian Games will feel just like any other event,” the South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted her saying. “But one thing that makes it special is that if I reach the top of the podium, I will get to hear our national anthem.” Philippine tennis star Alex Eala is expected to play in the Asian Games, skipping the WTA 1000 China Open. “I love playing and competing with the Philippine team,” said Eala, who is No. 18 in the WTA rankings. “I think it’s a really fun environment.” Speaking at the recent US Open, she raved about playing last year in the smaller Southeast Asian Games. “There are really memories that stick with me,” she said. “You know the Asian Games happens every four years. I found myself drawn to competing in that.” She won two bronze medals in China three years ago. But going for gold this time may have a price. The China Open is a mandatory WTA event and Eala could face a fine and a ranking-points penalty for skipping it. Sri Lankan javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage just won the event at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary. He’ll be the favorite in the Asian Games. That includes being favored over defending Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. He was fifth in Budapest. India’s Neeraj Chopra, the 2020 Olympic champion, will miss the games with an ankle injury. There’s no dedicated athletes village at these games. Up to 5,000 athletes and officials will stay on the Italian liner Costa Serena. Others will be lodged in hotels and in temporary wood containers. Organizers planned for 15,000 athletes and officials. But around August the number soared to 17,000. The Olympic Council of Asia has said those registered by a July deadline will get accommodation. Others who came late have to find their own. Part of the crunch is the addition of new sports like teqball and padel. Also, some delegations seem extraordinary large. China, with 1.4 billion people, is sending 815 and Hong Kong, with a population of only 7.5 million, is sending about 580. Japanese media is reporting that 10,000 police and security forces will be on duty for the opening ceremony on Saturday in Nagoya with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attending. The Emperor is expected to attend a basketball game on Sunday.

WASHINGTON — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, husband of singer Taylor Swift, was among investors defrauded out of millions of dollars by a financial adviser who is going to prison. Kelce was named in court by prosecutors among the victims in a Ponzi scheme, according to St. Louis TV station KMOV, that saw Siddharth Jawahar sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $31.35 million to Kelce and other investors, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said. Jawahar, 38, was a co-founder and managing partner of Texas-based Swiftarc Capital, whose investors included Kelce. Judge Zachary Bluestone said the duration of the fraud, stemming from 2016, and “enormous” losses involved plus Jawahar’s failure to start repaying victims were key factors in the sentence. Almost all of the funds were consolidated into Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP), and when PMP’s value declined, Jawahar instead told investors it was profitable and falsely told clients their money had been made in specific investments when he never made such investments. The court said Jawahar took more than $35 million from Swiftarc but invested only about $10 million from July 2016 through December 2023, with money spent on private jets, lavish hotels, luxury apartments in Texas and New York, fancy clothes and meals and memberships in private clubs. Jawahar pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud.

THE WTA Finals, the elite season-ending event in women’s tennis, will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the next three years in a move that organizers hope will create “the Super Bowl for women’s sports.” The tournament will be played at the Spectrum Center, home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, the WTA and the Charlotte Sports Foundation announced Wednesday. The year’s top eight singles players and doubles teams qualify for the event, which is usually held in November. “Our ambition is for the WTA Finals to be not only the premier championship in women’s tennis, but one of the defining global events in women sports,” WTA chair Valerie Camillo said. “We want to create the Super Bowl for women’s sports. And not just the competition, but an event that is the annual gathering for women’s tennis, women’s sports, and women’s sport business. “Audiences are growing, investment is growing, female athletes are increasingly at the center of sports and culture around the world. And women’s tennis has helped lead and define that progress for more than 50 years. And we believe our biggest championship should reflect the scale of this moment,” Camillo added. Camillo called it a “minimum three-year deal. She added, “We’ll see what goes on beyond that.”          AP  The announcement comes at a time of financial difficulty for the WTA after it announced in July that it was opting out of the final year of a three-year hosting arrangement with Saudi Arabia to move this year’s Finals to Indian Wells, California.  There were concerns about going back to Saudi Arabia due to military conflicts in the Middle East. Camillo noted that “2026 is a year of transition for the WTA” and that “we are doing the normal belt tightening you would expect in any business while also absorbing the unexpected cost of relocating the WTA finals to Indian Wells. “What’s most important to know is that we have a clear path to deliver consistent, sustainable financial performance in 2027 and beyond,” she added. With Indian Wells now set to host only once, Charlotte will become the eighth different venue for the Finals since 2018. The WTA did not announce any prize money figures for the upcoming tournaments, and could struggle to match the record-setting amounts that were on offer in Saudi Arabia. Elena Rybakina collected $5.23 million for winning the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh after going 5-0 at the event. The WTA said that was the largest payout in the history of women’s sports. Aryna Sabalenka earned $2.7 million as runner-up. Rybakina also beat Sabalenka in Saturday’s US Open final and claimed the No. 1 ranking. Coco Gauff won the 2024 finals in Riyadh.  The partnership will extend beyond the Finals. The WTA will also relocate its global headquarters from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Charlotte, as part of the deal. And there’s a plan to bring a WTA 500 tournament to Charlotte after 2029. “The WTA has always owned the WTA finals, but now going forward, we’re going to operate it too,” Camillo said. “We’re taking control of the creation of the revenues and the controlling of the expenses and the delivery of the entire thing. “And that allows us to control our own destiny,” Camillo added. “Whether it’s around what we’re doing with our media rights and our production, whether it’s related to the WTA finals, whether we’re approaching our calendar, we’re going to be making bold and aggressive moves for women’s tennis that shapes the future that we want rather than reacting.” Camillo replaced retiring chair Steve Simon at the end of last year. She previously oversaw business operations for the Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center as the president and CEO of the sports and entertainment division of Comcast Spectacor, and has held senior roles with the Washington Nationals and the NBA. Asked if there was a desire to eventually merge with the ATP Finals — the men’s season-ending event — Camillo said “there hasn’t been an in-depth conversation about merging” the two tournaments. “I think that when we create our ambition, people are going to want to merge with us on this event and many more,” she added. Condensed schedule  The move to the Hornets arena during the NBA season means that the Finals will be condensed from eight to five days. That means the traditional schedule of two singles and two doubles matches per day could become four singles and four doubles matches per day. “We are exploring a series of alternate formats,” Camillo said. The Spectrum Center has already hosted high-profile tennis exhibition events in recent years. “As an organization, our mission is quite simple,” Will Pitts, CEO of the Charlotte Sports Foundation, said of the Finals. “It’s drive economic impact and add to the quality of life through high-profile sporting events and unique partnerships. And this certainly does that.” The move comes as Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is investing an additional $500 million into ongoing stadium renovations with an eye toward potentially bringing the Super Bowl, NFL draft, 2031 Women’s World Cup and other major sporting events to Charlotte.

LOS ANGELES — Reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle will be without injured quarterback Sam Darnold when the Seahawks visit Arizona next weekend, coach Mike Macdonald said on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila). The Seahawks lost Darnold early in a 13-10 home victory over New England last week in a rematch of last February’s Super Bowl in the NFL 2026 season opener. They visit Arizona on Sunday with no plans to put Darnold on injured reserve but no timetable for when he might return from what has been diagnosed as a right gluteal muscle injury, other than to call it a short-term injury. Darnold exited early with what appeared to be a hip injury after a sack that ended Seattle’s first drive. Medical exams found that the hip joint was unaffected by what the team dubbed a “very unique soft-tissue injury.” Drew Lock, who rallied the Seahawks to victory over the Patriots as a fill-in after Darnold’s injury, will likely make his first start since 2024 when Seattle visits the Cardinals. The Seahawks visit Washington on September 27, play host to the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 4 and entertain San Francisco on Oct. 11. Darnold, 29, was the third pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He went 14-3 last season with Seattle, throwing for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns.

NAGOYA– Accommodation for Asian Games 2026 athletes in Japan is “functional” and efforts are being made to deal with numerous complaints from disgruntled teams, a chief organiser told AFP. More than 17,000 competitors and officials are expected at the continent’s biggest sporting spectacular, which opens on Saturday in Nagoya. READ: Asian Games 2026 set for

LIVE: Alas Pilipinas vs Kazakhstan – Asian Games 2026 women’s volleyball MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas Women failed to advance to the quarterfinals of the Asian Games 2026 indoor volleyball tournament after falling to Kazakhstan, 29-27, 24-26, 23-25, 19-25, in a must-win game on Thursday at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium in Japan. The explosive

Athletes from multiple countries arriving in Japan for the 20th Asian Games were stranded at Nagoya airport because of a technical glitch, leaving some Chinese team members stuck for seven hours without food. According to state media, the plane carrying the country’s delegation from Beijing landed on schedule at around 12.15pm, with buses already waiting at Chubu Centrair International Airport to take them to their accommodation. However, athletes and officials soon found themselves trapped at...

What you put in behind the spotlight can make all the difference when the moment arrives. That is true for most athletes, and the same goes for Sean Salvador, whose extra work behind the scenes paid dividends early when he drilled a dagger triple to help Jose Rizal University escape Mapua University last Monday.