UAAP: Mongcopa, Cabonilas star in FEU victory over La Salle

UAAP Season 89 Men’s Basketball Tournament FEU def. La Salle, 90-78 Kirby Mongcopa Player of the game #UAAPSeason89

Veteran international pool campaigner Aivhan Maluto is set to compete in the 2026 RBC Bali 9-Ball Open slated on Oct. 6-9, 2026 in Bali, Indonesia. “I hope to perform well in this event," said the 39-year-old Maluto, who hails from Cavite City.  Maluto, who paid a courtesy visit to the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chairman Francisco Rivera on Wednesday, is gunning for the champion’s prize of 200 million rupiah, roughly P700,000, in Bali. Maluto is fresh from topping the Moon Cake Festival 10-Ball Tournament held at the famous Pacman's Cue Club in Mandaluyong City last Saturday.  He defeated Jack de Luna, 8-6, in the finals to receive the top prize of P120,000 in the event sponsored by Filipino Chinese Billiards Association president Danny Chong, supported by many-time snooker champion Marlon Manalo and sanctioned by GAB. Maluto is also scheduled to compete in the Maharlika 10-Ball Tournament on Oct. 14-17 at the Star Billiards Center, Grace Village, Quezon City and the World 10-Ball Championships on Oct. 24-28 in Doha, Qatar.  Maluto was accompanied by Japan billiards champion Roel Esquillo, billiards promoter Darwin Dizol and Nympa Selleza when he visited the GAB chairman’s office on Wednesday.

Bianca Pagdangan was off to a rousing start in her 2026 Asian Games run, placing at joint third in the first round of women's individual stroke play.

After a hard-fought match against Joanna Garland at the 20th Asian Games, Filipina tennis star Alex Eala"s thoughts quickly turned to her opponent, who was seen in tears after the contest.

The University of Santo Tomas obtained its second consecutive win after fending off University of the East, 98-87, Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

NAGOYA, Japan — A gold medal for two South Korean golfers at the Asian Games would mean more than a chunk of metal to dangle around their necks. For Kim Joo-hyung and Kim Seong-hyeon, winning gold at the Asian Games — in the men's individual or team event — would excuse them from mandatory military service at home. Kim Joo-hyung goes by Tom Kim when he plays on the PGA Tour, and Kim Seong-hyeon goes by S.H. Kim. Under any name, they got a good start in the first round on Wednesday toward landing the exemption. The final round is Saturday. “I am 100% nervous,” S.H. Kim said. “A lot of pressure.” He added he's struggling with knee and back injuries and was not optimistic about his chances in the individual event. “Team gold is easier,” he said. Japan led the men's team competition after the first round, with South Korea and China two strokes behind. In the individual event, Wang Wei-hsuan of Taiwan and Kazuki Higa of Japan were tied at 5-under 65 atop the leaderboard at Kasugi Country Club. Mun Do-yeob, the third member of the South Korea team, was tied with four others at 4-under 66. Unlike his teammates, 35-year-old Mun doesn't need the exemption. In South Korea most men serve 18-21 months of military service. “I already finished my military service so I don’t really think about the military (exemption)," Mun said. “But I want to play good, so we make our team get a gold medal... to make sure they don't go to the military.” The format is 72 holes of stroke play. The teams are made up of three players, but only the best two scores count each day toward the team total. Mun led South Korea with a 66 and Tom Kim shot 67. S.H. Kim shot a 68, so his score was excluded from the team total of 133. Japan was in at 131 with Higa's 65 and a 66 by Keita Nakajima. “I went to the military really early,” Mun said. “It gave me a lot of experience, but I was lucky that I could play a little bit of golf at the army. Maybe three times a week. “I was teaching golf and I was picking up the golf balls from the generals’ driving range. But now they don’t have those kind of (assignments).”

MANILA, Philippines — The University of Santo Tomas held off the University of the East, 98-87, to claim its second straight win in the UAAP Season 89 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday. The Growling Tigers led by as many as 23 points but the Red Warriors came as close as six multiple times. Mark Llemit hit timely baskets to keep UE at bay and finish with 22 points on top of seven rebounds and three assits. Amiel Acido added 16 points and seven rebounds for the UST, which improved to 2-1 for a 4-way tie with NU, UP, and Ateneo at the upper half of the standings as of posting time. UE dropped to 0-4 and suffered its 24th straight loss dating back to Season 87.

Alex Eala dug deep in Set 1 before completing a 7-5, 6-0 win over the gritty Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei in the 2026 Asian Games women's tennis singles quarterfinals on Wednesday in Japan.

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino ace Alex Eala secured a bronze medal finish in the 20th Asian Games tennis women's singles play as she advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Taiwanese Joanna Garland at the Center Court of the Nagoya City Higashiyama Tennis Center in Japan Wednesday afternoon. Climbing from a 4-5 deficit in the first set, world No. 18 and tournament top seed Eala overpowered and bageled world No. 143 and No. 8 seed Garland in the second to at least match her semis finish in the previous Asiad edtion in Hangzhou, China back in 2023. Eala faces world No. 85 and No. 4 seed Xiyu Wang of China in the semifinals.

MANILA, Philippines — A cool P2 million has been set aside for EJ Obiena following his gold medal win at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. Under Republic Act No. 10699, also known as the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, gold medalists in the Asian Games are entitled to receive P2 million. Meanwhile, silver medalists receive P1 million, and bronze medalists receive P400,000 for individual events. Obiena clinched the gold after clearing a record-breaking 5.91 meters, breaking his own previous record of 5.90 meters set during the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Obiena snatched the third gold medal for Team Philippines in the Asian Games. Gymnast Carlos Yulo previously bagged the first two gold medals in the men's floor exercise and vault. TMT

CAMDEN, New Jersey — The answers Anfernee Simons gamely tried to offer about the first day of 76ers training camp were suddenly drowned out by the furious whirring overhead of a helicopter leaving the team's complex. LeBron James ' helicopter. James indeed used the rotorcraft for the rich to take him after practice from New Jersey to presumably close to wherever he decided to live in New York. The helicopter noises are usually reserved for when billionaire team owner Josh Harris lands at the complex for the NBA draft or a major news conference. Not anymore. The Sixers were quickly caught in the whirlwind of the first days of the LeBron Effect, even as a pair of players and coach Nick Nurse professed all was good on the court. Off the court, make room. Sixers staff moved the news conference backdrop from a corner where a few dozen reporters are usually stuffed to shout questions at Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxey to a spot closer toward midcourt for a roomier feel for the more than 50 credentialed reporters, bloggers, TV camera operators and more that came to get an early report card on James' official first day as a Sixer. James was gone Tuesday by the time media was allowed on the court to watch practice. Embiid, Maxey, former Boston star Jaylen Brown, they were all absent, too, a day after holding court on media day. Nurse is starting his fourth season as coach of the Sixers. He's used to handling the demands that come with working in a major market and dealing with star players in Philly such as with Embiid and his daily injury report or the high drama that surrounded former Sixer James Harden. Nurse did say he had conversations with the team about looking out for each other and staying connected while navigating a spotlight season — especially early — that already has a postseason-type of aura around the franchise before the Sixers even played a game. “It is going to be different,” Nurse said. “More people, more eyes, more stories, more national TV. All that kind of stuff. It's the same, just a little more. I'm just trying to get to the practice floor and to the game floor. If we can do those two things, all that other stuff, we'll just kind of handle it as smoothly as we can.” Nurse called the sight of so much talent “impressive” once the Sixers hit the floor for practice. James is a future Hall of Famer. Embiid has certainly built a strong case. Brown was an NBA Finals MVP and champion with the Celtics. Maxey earned his first All-Star start last season and has blossomed into an elite talent. The fifth starter is more than just, oh, that other guy. VJ Edgecombe was third in rookie of the year voting last season and his buoyant personality and defensive playmaking made him an instant fan favorite and immediate force in helping the Sixers return last season to the playoffs. Edgecombe worked out with James over the summer and volunteered that he orchestrated the starting five group text thread — well, once he asked Maxey for James' number. That was all cool. Yet the magnitude of the moment truly hit him ahead of practice when James put on his No. 23 jersey in the same locker room as Edgecombe. The 21-year-old Edgecombe tried not to get starstruck. He called James a teammate, a brother, a Sixer who will fight on the court side by side with them to chase the franchise's first championship since 1983. Maybe. But he's still LeBron James. “It's like, damn, that's still Bron,” Edgecombe said with a laugh. “He was in the locker room and I'm like, oh, that's Bron over there. His locker was open. He was in there before everybody as usual. He dapped me up, he's like, ‘what up? what up?’ We know each other for a minute.” Edgecombe smiled as he tried to convince himself he's expunged the fan boy from his system. “I ain't gonna be like that no more,” Edgecombe said to laughter. True to his word, Edgecombe said he had to get loud during practice and give James some defensive instruction on when to switch off. “We forgot. We messed up a switch,” Edgecombe said. “But that's what happens. We're getting to know each other. It's a new system for him. Everything is on the fly right now.” It was soon time for James to fly home — all while the Sixers basked in the successful first day of what could be the NBA ride of a lifetime.