Kidapawan chessfest underway Feb. 12-13

INTERNATIONAL Master Oliver Barbosa is expected to defend his crown when the 3rd Kidapawan Open Chess Championship gets underway from February 12 to 13 at the Kidapawan Convention Center in Kidapawan City.

Ambasa pulls off dramatic victory

FALLING behind and suffering from leg cramps, Monalisa Ambasa was on the verge of giving up and surrendering the contest to her rivals in the Cebu City Marathon, an energy-sapping 42-kilometer footrace last Sunday at the IT Park in Cebu.

Series of activities up for wake boarders

A BAY 2011 awaits enthusiasts and riders at the world-class Deca Wakeboard Park as management just lined up exciting events to watch out for.

Mixed topics at DSA forum today

MIXED topics will be discussed when the weekly Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum resumes at the Tower Inn at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

Brokenshire netters ready for Prisaa

BROKENSHIRE College netters are ready to do battle for Davao City when the Regional Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) Meet gets underway on January 21 to 23.

Sportswriters pick junior basketball standouts

WITHOUT fanfare, sports scribes covering the top two collegiate basketball leagues in the country picked high school standouts Kiefer Ravena and Baser Amer as the season’s finest.

Pacquiao nominated for Laureus award

BOXING superstar Manny Pacquiao added new feather to his cap after he secured a nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, the most prestigious award given by the world’s top sports journalists.

City coaches gather today

COACHES, chaperons and delegation officials of the Cagayan de Oro team bound for the 2011 Palarong Pampook will have a meeting on Thursday at the City Central School's conference room.

DepEd-CDO conducts youth chess tourney

A DAY-LONG chess tournament for kiddies and junior players will serve as the first ever activity for the local chess community in the Year of the Rabbit.

No height, no play?

LOCAL athletes wishing to step into the penumbra of the Palaro meet's inner circle must work doubly hard in training to qualify.

Education office okay with Palaro transfer to PSC

THE planned takeover of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) over the management of the Palarong Pambansa may bode well for the country's grassroots development.

BBEAL 2nd sem action starts

ACTION in the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League Season 24 second semester goes full blast this weekend with two sports events commencing hostilities at the Benguet State University.

Gabutan returns to gym

IT'S back to the gym for World Boxing Organization Oriental bantamweight champion Dayer Gabutan.

Dangwa won't miss chance with Pacman this time

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- If plans of the eighth time division boxing champ Manny Pacquiao to come back to the city for the third time to prepare for his next mega fight against American superstar Sugar Shane Mosley pushes through, Board Member Nelson Dangwa will do everything in his power to personally hand the resolution he authored adopting the pound-for-pound king as the Boxing Icon of Benguet.

RP-Bacolod to see action in 1st POTC

AROUND 200 athletes and coaches, including 46 from Bacolod City are bound to join the first-ever Philippine Tchoukball Federation-sanctioned Philippine Open Tchoukball Championships on January 28 to 30, 2011 at the Davao City Recreation Center (DCRC), formerly Almendras Gym.

Jr. NBA training begins Jan. 21

Jr. NBA, the premier youth development program of the National Basketball Association has released its schedule and calendar of Activities for its Free Coaching Seminar and School Clinic at St. John’s Institute, Bacolod City.

On January 21, 2011 Jr. NBA will be conducting a free coaching seminar to be conducted by American coach Frank Lopez from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

New Bataan to host centerpiece events

NEW Bataan in Compostela Valley will host premier events of the 2011 Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet while some events will be played simultaneously in Tagum City on April 10 to 14.

Guinoo, Nonato in 1-2 finish

DAVAO City riders Kennedy Guinoo and Dexter Nonato fashioned out a 1-2 finished in the elite open event of the Padyak Para sa Kalikasan Mountain Trail held in Midsayap in North Cotabato on Sunday.

Datba's Convoy seizes singles crown in Cebu

THOMAS Convoy captured the singles crown and also took the fourth spot in the Masters event of the just-concluded Sinulog Cup 2011 at the Gaisano Bowlingplex in Cebu City.

A wave of support

THE bounty the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is getting because of the Azkals' recent success just got larger.

Aside from the aid it will get from the German Football Association, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan have committed to an annual aid of $100,000 for the next five years for the national team’s competitions.

Gwen, Mike to run in Operation Smile Run

TWO top officials of Cebu will now join the running craze not only for health and wellness but also for goodwill.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will be running in the “Smile to the Finish Line: A Charity Run for Operation Smile Cebu” in support of their common friend Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung of the Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung Charitable Foundation (MSYCFI).

Cebuano, 15, earns respect

ANOTHER young Ce-buano made Cebu proud when he ruled the Class A division of the 11th Philippine International Junior Golf Championship at the Greenfields Golf and Country Club in Calamba, Laguna.

Fifteen-year-old Angelo Jose “Gio” Gandionco, who was a Sportswriters’ Association of Cebu (SAC) awardee last 2008 for an impressive performance in the Asia Pacific Junior Golf Tournament, made waves after besting 40 junior golfers all over Asia.

Alta Vista bet Irina battles in Laguna

DIMINUTIVE Irina Gabasa goes for the big one as she joins the hunt for the Philippine Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship crown beginning today at The Country Club in Laguna.

Gabasa outlasted Yupa-porn Kawinpakorn of Thailand to score a 2-up victory in last year’s Philippine Amateur Golf Championship final at the Del Monte Golf Club in Bukidnon, with the Alta Vista bet hoping to add the Phl Ladies Open plum to her trophy cabinet.

Limpag: Running far

IF YOU run alone, Cebu City Councilor Edgardo Labella said, you run fast. If you run with others, you run far.

Never was that statement by Labella, who is also a member of the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC), more evident than in Sunday’s Cebu City Marathon.

Rama: Downed but not out

CEBU City Police Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe’s request for Camp Crame to impose a gun ban in Cebu for the Sinulog pushed through.

PNP Chief Raul Bacalzo issued a memorandum suspending all standing Permits to Carry Firearms Outside Residence (PTCFOR) in Cebu until Friday next week.

Light slips away from Bitoon

A CEBUANO Chess International Master was right on target for his third and final GM norm, but suddenly he lost control and his bid to become a full-fledged Chess Grandmaster fell back.

In the recently-concluded 1st HD Bank Cup Open Chess Championships held in Hoh Chih Minh City in Vietnam, Bitoon, who was chasing his third and final GM norm since the Aeroflot Open tournament in Moscow in 2009, missed it again this time by two frustrating defeats.

Better Partners expected in ‘11

A BETTER Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi)-Partners Cup 2011 season awaits the spectators and the players alike as it unfolds April this year.

Unlike the previous staging of the Partners Cup, the Cesafi management had decided to change its date to make the event a pre-season warm-up for the participating schools.

Donaire Jr. off to life’s biggest fight

EXPECT a brawl on Feb. 19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino as Filipino star Nonito Donaire Jr. challenges World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council bantamweight king Fernando Montiel.

Donaire Jr., who started his training camp two weeks ago, is certain that his bout with Montiel will be exciting and that it won’t go the distance.

Vergara ponders uniting 3 golf causes

WITH the aim of helping the needy and other civic organizations, at least three golf for a cause tournaments which were normally being held every last quarter of the year were asked to unite instead to draw a bigger number of entries and larger donation.

Benguet all set to host CARAA 2011

THE province is definitely ready for the 2011 edition of the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association.