China may have unearthed another swimming sensation in 12-year-old Hu Rundong, who turned heads by winning gold, setting records and meeting first-class standards at a provincial event this week. Hu emerged as the stand-out performer in the junior swimming division at the 21st Jiangsu Provincial Games, winning five gold and four silver medals across 10 events. Competing in the boys’ 12-year-old category, the Suzhou native competed in breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley...

China may have unearthed another swimming sensation in 12-year-old Hu Rundong, who turned heads by winning gold, setting records and meeting first-class standards at a provincial event this week. Hu emerged as the stand-out performer in the junior swimming division at the 21st Jiangsu Provincial Games, winning five gold and four silver medals across 10 events. Competing in the boys’ 12-year-old category, the Suzhou native competed in breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley...

Tom Ballantyne was playing a pre-season friendly for Welsh club Monmouth Town when he “got clattered” and sustained a tibia plateau fracture. “I broke my knee joint, essentially,” Ballantyne said. “I never played again”. So began a life investment in coaching that would see Ballantyne stacking supermarket shelves overnight, then spending long days on the grass. He has been employed by Cardiff City and Aston Villa, and managed in three of Australia’s six states. The Englishman was the man Jim...

ANTIPOLO—Barangay Ginebra secured the last quarterfinals berth in the 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup while setting up a best-of-five duel with San Miguel Beer after defeating Blackwater, 101-96, on Friday at Ynares Center here. There were hardly any complications as the Gin Kings took matters into their own hands right from the get-go to beat Bossing

MANILA, Philippines—With Letran down a man, Aaron Buensalida stepped up to the plate to help his team in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Friday. The Knights played without their main big man, Kevin Santos, who served a one-game suspension after being ejected in their last game. Fortunately, Buensalida was

MANILA, Philippines—San Beda’s win over Jose Rizal University on Friday in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament was overshadowed by a freak accident involving Jimmy Reyes. During a rebound play, Reyes collided with teammate JC Bonzalida at the 7:11 mark in the fourth quarter. Reyes’ head then struck the floor, leaving him down as

MANILA, Philippines–Zed Etulle towed San Beda out of trouble as the Red Lions held off Jose Rizal University, 75-71, in Group A of the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Friday. With the Red Lions’ lead slipping away, Etulle coolly sank all four of his crucial free throws in crunch

MANILA, Philippines–King James Reyes won bronze in the men’s 1,500-meter T46 on Friday, giving the Philippines its first athletics medal at the 5th Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan. Reyes, 24, clocked a personal-best 4 minutes, 13.81 seconds at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. The Loreto, Agusan del Sur, native lost an arm after falling

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brandon Miller has his big contract after signing a five-year, $209 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets earlier this week. Now he wants something more — to put an end to the Hornets’ painful NBA 10-year playoff drought. “Our goal is the playoffs,” Miller said Thursday at a ceremony at the Spectrum

AUSTIN, Texas — Lewis Hamilton lauded Formula 1’s plan to return to Africa with a race in Rwanda and acknowledged the criticism from human rights groups over the host nation. He also suggested the chance to achieve his dream of racing in Africa could prompt him to drive for several more years. READ: F1 announces

ANTIPOLO—Rain or Shine secured the No. 2 spot in Group B and a quarterfinal date with Converge after blowing out Phoenix, 133-103, in the 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup on Friday at Ynares Center here. Jhonard Clarito registered conference-highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds on top of five assists, but it was the Elasto Painters’

MANILA, Philippines — NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the Philippines remains part of the league’s plans, although a game in the country is not an immediate priority. During an online press conference with global media on Tuesday night, Tatum outlined the NBA’s continued efforts in the Philippines, including grassroots programs and fan events. READ:

In a country where 62% of Filipinos consider themselves NBA fans and represent the 3rd largest viewing audience globally, Sprite officially unveils its new global platform, “Never Stop Refreshing the Game,” with the addition of three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić to its global basketball athlete roster alongside superstar Anthony Edwards. Sprite is doubling down on

MANILA, Philippines—Letran survived a desperate San Sebastian, 91-89, with Jimboy Estrada hitting the game-winner on Friday in NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament action at San Juan Arena. With the score tied at 89, the Knights had 6.3 seconds to work with and put their trust in Estrada, who nailed a step-back midrange jumper with

ATLANTA— The Atlanta Dream have imposed their will defensively on Golden State in the WNBA Finals so far, using their size and strength to dominate the Valkyries. That’s helped them take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after Wednesday night’s 97-71 victory. Game 4 is on Saturday. READ: WNBA: Angel Reese, Dream beat Valkyries

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands— Daiki Hashimoto of Japan soared to gold during the men’s all-around final at the world gymnastics championships on Thursday, sealing his fourth straight title with a brilliant performance on high bar in the final rotation. The 25-year-old Hashimoto’s total of 85.988 included a 14.766 on high bar, even though he could have opted

MIAMI— Upon review, Minnesota’s LaMelo Ball traveled. Really, really traveled. The association that represents NBA referees posted a clip from Wednesday night’s game between the Timberwolves and the Miami Heat and clarified — not that it needed much clarification — that Ball indeed did commit a violation on his way to a 3-pointer in the

FILIPINO-AMERICAN chess Grandmaster Wesley So topped the 2026 United States Chess Championship for the fourth time, beating top American players, including world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana, who ruled the four previous tournaments. In the second game of the two-game rapid playoff that was livestreamed at the Saint Louis Chess Club in Missouri, Caruana made a risky, if not dubious, move by advancing his bishop too early and leaving a central pawn exposed.   So immediately took the free pawn and with it, a lot of territory on the chess board.  So castled his king on the queen-side and advanced his king-side pawns toward Caruana’s castled king.  Caruana attempted to counter-attack on the queen-side, but So continued to push his pawns forward and threatened to expose Caruana’s king.   Caruana resigned after So’s 33rd move.  So and Caruana finished the 11-round tournament tied for first place with 7.0 points apiece. So’s journey to glory was not without glitches, however, as he unexpectedly lost to tail-ender Sam Sevian in the 11th round.  A draw would have been enough to clinch the championship but the loss enabled Fabiano Caruana, who played well in the second half of the tournament, to catch up with So.  So and Caruana then met in a tie-breaker where they played two games with quicker thinking time — forcing more errors and increasing psychological pressure for both players. The first rapid playoff game ended in a draw. In the first two rounds of the tournament, So was on fire as he won against 2018 US champion Sam Shankland and Jeffrey Xiong.  So also beat up-and-coming young grandmasters Andy Woodward and Ray Robson in dramatic come-from-behind victories. So pocketed the $56,000 purse for topping the tournament. Caruana won the US Chess Championship in 2016, and 2022 to 2025.  So won the US Championship in 2017, 2020, and 2021. The US Chess Championship is considered the “toughest tournament” in the world today, with the strongest players from all over the world gravitating toward the United States. In August, So had also won the prestigious Sinquefield Cup participated by top grandmasters from all over the world.  Then in September, he played in the World Chess Olympiad as part of the United States team.

TWO-TIME Olympic champion Carlos Yulo will have a chance to win the gold medal in floor exercise at the 2026 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam on Saturday at 8 p.m. (Manila time). The 26-year-old Filipino gymnast is fresh from a historic double gold medal performance at the 20th Asian Games in Japan, where he won the floor exercise and vault titles. Yulo last claimed a World Championships gold on floor exercise in 2019 in Stuttgart, becoming the first Southeast Asian athlete to win the event. In that final, he scored 15.300 points, the highest score posted so far in the history of the open-ended scoring era of the World Championships where he posted a 6.5 difficulty for his routine. The world champions from the 2021 to 2025 scored below 15 points. On Friday, Yulo made the final with a score of 14.500 points (difficulty 5.700, execution 8.800), second only to Russia’s Dukhno Arsenii (14.700).  Yulo opened his routine with a 2.5 twist into a front double pike and closed with a double layout, taking only a small hop on landing. Since his 2019 triumph, Yulo has come close but fallen short of winning another gold in the World Championships. He finished fifth in Kitakyushu 2021 after stepping out of bounds; seventh in Liverpool 2022 after a fall; fourth in Antwerp 2023 with a score of 14.500; and finally returned to the podium with a bronze medal in Jakarta 2025 (14.533), behind British gymnasts Jake Jarman (14.866) and Luke Whitehouse (14.666). The 4-foot-11 Yulo will look to end his seven-year gold medal drought against a strong field of competitors that also include Artem Dolgopyat (14.300), Frederick Richard (14.233) and reigning world champion Jarman (14.133). Yulo will also defend his vault title on Sunday. He won the vault gold in 2021 and 2025. His other medals in the World Championships include silvers on parallel bars (2021) and vault (2022) and bronzes on floor exercise (2018 and 2025) and parallel bars (2022). The World Championships remain the highest-level global competition outside the Olympic Games and serve as a key qualifying pathway for the 2028 Olympics.

MILWAUKEE — On the eve of the World Series, there is a realization these may be Major League Baseball’s last games for a while. Owners are pushing for a salary cap, and that could prompt a lockout starting Dec. 2 and result in canceled games in 2027. “It would be a real bummer to lose a season, that’s for sure,” Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen said Thursday (Friday in Manila) ahead of the World Series opener against Milwaukee. “I think the industry as a whole is in way too good of a place.” This year’s World Series is the first since 1991 between teams both in the bottom half of payrolls: Milwaukee ranked 19th as of Aug. 31 and Tampa Bay 25th. MLB says a cap is needed to help all teams compete more consistently, but players contend because of the method owners use to define expenses, a cap would lead to management taking a greater share of the sport’s revenue. “The system that’s being proposed, which is similar to other leagues in terms of revenue-sharing system, not only will help us compete, but more importantly all of the teams with lower payrolls, too, which is something also I think the fans want,” Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said. MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million using figures for luxury tax payrolls, and limit a player to 15 percent of a team’s payroll. Free agents would be capped at $265 million over six seasons — far under Juan Soto’s record $765 million, 15-year deal with the New York Mets. The players’ association vows never to accept a cap. “If they’re going to sit there and wave their little magic wand at us saying they’re going to get a salary cap, it’s not going to happen,” Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill said. Negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement to replace the five-year deal expiring Dec. 1 could turn into each side trying to outlast the other. “My thought with it all is keep building on the former generations and build on what they gave us,” said Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who throws the first pitch of the Series on Friday night. “You don’t want to be the generation to send something backwards. You just keep building on what former generations have given you and hope for the best.” Attanasio said the Brewers ranked 11th in nonplayer baseball operations spending this year and the Rays were ninth. The owner said about 250 people report to general manager Matt Arnold. Milwaukee is ranked 30th and last in market size in MLB and could become the first small-market team to win the title since the 2015 Kansas City Royals. “We have to keep an eye on the present and one eye on the future in every move that we make. Every trade we have to think about that,” Arnold said. “There are tradeoffs for what you can do to help the team today and what that looks like going forward.” Tampa Bay is the No. 15 MLB market. While the Rays haven’t spent lavishly on major league payroll, they were among the bigger spenders on player development this year. The players’ association filed a grievance against the Rays alleging the team didn’t meet its obligation under the labor contract to use revenue-sharing proceeds to try to improve its performance on the field. The grievance, covering 2017, ‘18 and ‘19, was withdrawn in December. In a bargaining session Thursday, owners proposed to allow the use of cameras on catchers for broadcasts. AP

LOS ANGELES — Caleb Williams threw two touchdowns and finished with 308 passing yards as the Chicago Bears finally edged clear of the New England Patriots to clinch a 30-24 victory at Soldier Field on Thursday (Friday in Manila). The Bears — playing their first home game since the passing of legendary former coach Mike Ditka earlier this month — improved to 5-2 thanks to a composed display from Williams, who made 22-of-33 passes with no interceptions. Chicago were also grateful for a career-long 58-yard field goal from veteran kicker Cairo Santos in the final two minutes that gave Chicago a nine-point lead and effectively settled the game. “It felt great being able to be back with the guys, being able to be back out here in front of our fans,” said Williams, playing his first home game since a monthlong injury layoff. Earlier, the Bears defense dominated the early exchanges, winning a turnover on downs on the opening New England drive before forcing the visitors to punt twice. Chicago got on the board early with a 43-yard Santos field goal before D’Andre Swift rushed over for a close-range touchdown late in the first quarter to make it 10-0. New England however got back into the game early in the second quarter, with an inspired weaving run from quarterback Drake Maye to cap a 74-yard touchdown drive. Initially it looked as if Maye had been stopped just short of the goal-line, but New England challenged the call and replays showed he had just managed to break the plane as he stretched for the end zone. Chicago restored their double-digit advantage with 10 unanswered points through Santos’ second field goal and a Luther Burden touchdown to make it 20-7. Yet once again New England hit back and on the stroke of half-time, conjured a touchdown out of nothing when Maye connected with Rhamondre Stevenson for a 48-yard score that caught the Bears secondary napping. The back-and-forth scoring continued in the third quarter, with Colton Loveland collecting a 12-yard pass from Williams to put the Bears 27-14 ahead, only for Maye to toss his second touchdown to set up a score for Eli Raridon and make it a six-point game at 27-21. Chicago flirted with disaster in the final two minutes, when Williams was sacked on third down to leave Santos with a long-range field goal attempt. Santos though drilled the kick to put the Bears out of reach, with New England’s final points coming from an Andy Borregales field goal. The Patriots, runners-up in last year’s Super Bowl, fell to 4-3 with the loss. AFP

LOS ANGELES — The Philadelphia 76ers erased a 29-point deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-106, on Thursday (Friday in Manila) in NBA superstar LeBron James’ first home game since landing in Philly as a free agent. Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points and Joel Embiid added 24 — including a jump shot with 6:54 left to play that gave the Sixers their first lead of the night — one they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to an epic comeback. Former Celtics star Jaylen Brown, the Sixers’ other big off-season acquisition, scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds and four-time NBA champion James added 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to help the 76ers author their biggest comeback of the play-by-play era that started in 1996. It was also the biggest comeback of James’ storied career. The league’s all-time leading scorer called it a good win — but not a position he wants to be in often. “You don’t want to rely on that,” he said. “I think it’s great to know (that) deep down we’re not going to have that quit mentality. You never want to look around and say guys gave up. “But you don’t want to put yourself in too many of those situations.” Cleveland, disappointed not to land hometown hero James after he announced he was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers after eight seasons, appeared to be on a mission to show him what he missed. Donovan Mitchell scored 22 of his 32 points in the first half as the Cavs seized control against a 76ers team struggling to find a rhythm and protect the ball. Philadelphia center Joel Embiid looked creaky, and James had five of the Sixers’ 15 first-half turnovers — which led to 22 Cavs points and provoked boos from Philly fans whose hopes of a title run have been raised by the arrivals of James and Brown. The boos turned to raucous cheers as the reenergized 76ers opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run. They cut the lead to single digits on back-to-back baskets from Maxey that pulled them within 80-73. The Cavs were struggling to regroup. Maxey reduced the deficit to two points with a running finger roll layup with 2:33 left in the third before Cleveland reeled off six straight points to take a 90-82 lead into the fourth quarter. But the 76ers, who beat the reigning champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, kept coming. They outscored the Cavaliers, 60-37, in the second half, clamping down defensively and giving up just two turnovers. Evan Mobley scored 18 points for Cleveland but had just three in the second half. Jarrett Allen scored 14 but was held scoreless after the break. “We stayed together, that’s the main thing,” Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe said. “When it got worse we could have given up, we didn’t. It’s an early season test, early season adversity, and we overcame it.” AFP

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Chandler Blanchet made a pair of eagles, one from 50 feet and the other from 5 feet, to post his best score of the year — a 9-under 62 — and hold a one-shot lead after the first round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Blanchet, whose best finish this season was on another island in the Puerto Rico Open, added six birdies to his round. His only dropped shot came on the par-4 fourth, his 13th hole of the round, when he missed the green well to the left at Port Royal. He led by one shot over Ben Kohles, Corey Conners, Danny Walker and Ben Silverman of Canada on a day when the wind was all over the place, from gusty to calm with a few passing showers. Blanchet is at No. 114 in the FedEx Cup Fall, and points are all that matter this time of the year for so many players. Bermuda is one of five tournaments left in the season, and the top 100 keep full status for 2027. An example of the wind not hurting as much as it often does at Port Royal came on the par-5 seventh hole as Blanchet was finishing his round. “The wind was kind of calming down, so it was pretty favorable,” he said. “Hit a smooth 5-iron there to like 5 feet. That was sweet.” His other eagle came on the 17th, the shortest par 5 but with water lurking to the left. “Yeah. No. 17, I guess that was my last eagle. I hit a great drive,” Blanchet said. He only had about 180 yards in, but left it out far too the right, only to hole the putt from just outside 50 feet. “Just dripped in on the last revolution,” he said. Kohles had a chance to sew up his PGA Tour card at No. 19 going into the Korn Ferry Tour Championship (the top 20 earn cards). But he was playing well enough that he went to the Baycurrent Classic in Japan and tied for 17th. Now he’s at No. 80, virtually a lock for a card, and now can think about finishing in the top 60 to get into two $20 million signature events. Kohles made a career-best six straight birdies, all of them in the 6-foot range until the last one, which was about 12 feet. “It’s pretty nice I think to feel a lot more comfortable,” Kohles said. “Going into the fall it was funny. I obviously decided to play the fall out here and skip the last three Korn Ferrys, and as good as I played on both tours I wasn’t really locked on either one. So, it was really nice to have those three good finishes to start the fall and pretty much secure my top 100 for next year. “Just feel like I’m just kind of freewheeling and trying to play my best and see where it puts me.” Mackenzie Hughes and Emiliano Grillo were in the large group of players who shot 64 to wind up two shots back after the first round. Without the consistently blustery wind, the course played to an average score of 68.5. “The conditions were amazing,” said Conners, who at No. 61, is the highest-ranked player in the field. “The wind blows pretty hard here and it was fairly mild today. The golf course is playing great, it’s in wonderful shape and was really a nice day. A little bit wet early, but for the most part we got really lucky with some pretty pleasant conditions to play in.” AP

MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala takes her act to Japan, making her debut at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo starting October 26. The WTA 500 tournament is the penultimate stop of Eala’s Asian swing and WTA season, and she looks to make a deeper run with the support of the Filipino crowd in attendance. READ:

Barangay Ginebra held off Blackwater, 101-96, in the final game of the PBA Governors" Cup elimination round on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, eliminating the Bossing from playoff contention.

WASHINGTON–LeBron James brushed off US President Donald Trump’s criticism of his behavior during the national anthem, calling it a “slow news day” after the Philadelphia 76ers rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 in the NBA on Thursday. “It must be a slow news day at the office,” James said after the game. “Slow news

Barangay Ginebra defeated Blackwater, 101-96, to grab the last PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals ticket on Friday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.  American import Jordan Murphy fired 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Ginebra, which closed the elimination round with a 5-5 win-loss record. The Bossing ended their conference campaign with a 3-7 card and will miss the playoffs. Troy Rosario added 17 points, RJ Abarrientos 14, Jeremiah Gray 11, while Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar scored 10 each. Kentrell Barkley and Sedrick Barefield led Blackwater with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

MANILA, Philippines — The 2026-27 NBA season continued Friday, October 23 (October 22 in the US), with Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder winning on their home-court debuts this season. NBA Scores Today: October 23 Oklahoma City Thunder beat Denver Nuggets, 96-84 Jalen Williams scored 21 points, while Chet Holmgren had 12 points and 17

OKLAHOMA CITY — Jalen Williams scored 21 points, Chet Holmgren had 12 points and 17 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder withstood a poor shooting night from Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander in their home opener to beat the Denver Nuggets 96-84 in the NBA on Thursday. Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 32 points in a convincing win over San Antonio

PHILADELPHIA— Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points and Joel Embiid had 24 to help LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers wipe out a 29-point deficit in their home opener and stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 in the NBA on Thursday night. James had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the biggest comeback win of his career,