Ronda Pilipinas 2013 Stage 2: Philippine Navy dominates; Calderon wins stage

Route: Ipil to Pagadian City (123 km)

Stage Honors

1. Joel Calderon (V-Mobile/Smart) 3:27:53
2. Ronald Gorantes (Roadbike Philippines/RTS) 4 seconds behind
3. Irish Valenzuela (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 6 seconds behind

Top 3 teams of Stage 2

1. Philippine Navy/ Standard Insurance 10:24:27
2. Roadbike Philippines/RTS 2:39 behind
3. V-Mobile/Smart 3:44 behind

Top 10 in Individual Over-all Classification after 2 stages (Red Jersey)

1. Santy Barnachea (Philippine Navy/ Standard Insurance) 06:35:18
2. Tomas Martinez (Team Tarlac) 00:02:01 behind
3. Ronald Gorantes (Roadbike Philippines/RTS) 00:03:00 behind
4. Irish Valenzuela (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 00:03:01 behind
5. Joel Calderon (V-Mobile/Smart) 00:03:09 behind
6. George Oconer (Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance) 00:03:16 behind
7. Marcelo Feilipe (V-Mobile/Smart) 00:03:19 behind
8. Reynaldo Navarro (Hundred Islands/Pangasinan) 00:03:38 behind
9. Lloyd Lucien Reynante (Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance) 00:03:39 behind
10. Cris Joven (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 00:03:41 behind

Top 5 Teams Overall after 2 stages

1. Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance 19:50:47
2. V-Mobile/Smart 00:02:21 behind
3. Roadbike Philippines/RTS 00:04:38 behind
4. American Vinyl/LPGMA 00:06:22 behind
5. Team Tarlac 00:10:04 behind

Top 5 in Best Young Rider Classification (Yellow/Gold Jersey)

1. George Oconer (Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance)  06:38:34
2. Rudy Roque (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 00:00:58 behind
3. Vicente Vicmar (Mindanao/Cycleline Butuan) 00:01:17 behind
4. Ronald Oranza (PLDT/Spyder) 00:01:55 behind
5. Marvin Tapic (Y101FM/Cebu) 00:02:47 behind

Top Sprinter (Blue Jersey):

1. Cris Joven (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 24 pts
2. Ericson Obosa (Roadbike Philippines/RTS) 24 pts
3. Santy Barnachea (Philippine Navy/ Standard Insurance) 23 points

King of the Mountain (White Jersey):

1. Irish Valenzuela (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 6 pts
2. Cris Joven (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 4 pts
3. Rudy Roque (American Vinyl/LPGMA) 4 pts

Ronda Stage 2 Jersey leaders (photo from rondapilipinas.com)

Stage 2 of Ronda Pilipinas 2013 was won by V-Mobili-Smart’s Joel Calderon as he cruised to a solo finish.  He was followed by Roadbike Philippines’ Ronal Gorantes who crossed the finish line after 4 seconds.  The last podium finisher was American Vinyl’s Irish Valenzuela who out sprinted youngster George Oconer for 3rd place.

Even if the team did not have a rider in the podium, Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance team grabbed the team owners. The red jersey for overall individual classification is now being worn by Navy’s Santy Barnachea. Teammate George Oconer is the yellow/gold jersey holder and is 6th overall. Perennial contender Lloyd Lucien Reynante is at 9th to be the third Navy cyclist to be in the top ten.   Having 3 of the Top 10 riders after 2 stages made it possible for the  Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance team to hold a 2:21 lead over equal star-studded V-Mobile/Smart for the overall team classification.  Amrican Vinyl/ LPGMA dominated the points races as Cris Joven and Irish Valenzuela got hold of the sprint and king of the mountains leadership respectively.

Ronda’s stage 3 will take the cyclists to Iligan.  The group will then travel to Cebu then have 2 days off before racing for Stage 4 and 5 at the Queen City of South for the Visayas leg of the tour.

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2012 FIBA Asia Championships will be held in Manila

The Philippines gained the right to host the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship after the FIBA Asia Executive Committee decided to move the venue from Lebanon due to the tense situation in Syria and the Middle East.  The tournament will be held on August 1-11, 2013.

FIBA Asia Secretary General Hagop Khajirian explained that the on-going civil war in Syria created the doubts for a successful staging of the biennial basketball tournament in his home country Lebanon.  The FIBA Asia tournament is the main qualifying tournament for Asian countries for the 2014 FIBA World Cup that will be held in Spain. The top 3 finishers of the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship will represent the continent in the World Cup that is held once every 4 years.

The Philippines has been a very vocal in its interest to host the prestigious qualifying tournament as the event was last held in Manila in 1973 during the 7th staging of the event. The officials of the Samahan ng Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) were very disappointed when FIBA Asia initially awarded the event to Lebanon.

The Philippines has now has a chance to redeem its disappointing 4th place finish in the last staging of the event which cost a chance to play at the 2012 London Olympics.

caloycomment: We not got the hosting rights.  Will we be able to assemble our strongest team ever? Will politics in the PBA prevent as from creating a strong line-up that can reach the finals.  Hopefully Manny Pangilinan and the San Miguel will form an unlikely alliance that will at least give the country a fair chance to qualify for the World Cup.  I am drooling now just trying to imagine how Jason Castro guards Chris Paul or how Arwind Santos stop Lebron James. It could happen… 😉

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Talk ‘N Text complete Philippine Cup finals cast

The Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters will have a chance to go for a three-peat in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup after beating Alaska in their best of 7 semifinal series, 4-2.  The Texters will be facing the defending Governor’s Cup titlist the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

The Texters won Game 6 with the score of 83-78.  The game was a tight affair as both teams were very disciplined in their defense.  The game was marked with several lead changes before the Tropang Texters pulled away in the last few minutes.  Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, and Ali Peek combined to give the defending All-Filipino champions an 80-71 lead with barely four minutes left in the final period.  Jvee Casio gave some life to Alaska’s overachieving campaign with a 4-point play to trim the lead to just 5 points.  A lull scoring happened in the next possessions of either items as it was marked steals, blocked shots, turnovers, and some hurried shots. After Casio missed a three point attempt just over 20 seconds left in the game, the Alaska Aces were not able foul a TNT player allowing Talk ‘N Text to waste some seconds before the Aces stopped the clock.  With 15 seconds left, Alaska sent Alapag to the line and he obliged be calmly hitting 2 pressure-packed free throws to increase the lead to 82-75.  In Alaska’s possession, Dondon Hontiveros hit a three-point shot to trim the lead the 5.  The Aces fouled Ranidel de Ocampo who split his free throws for the final tally as the Texters scuttled Alaska’s final play.

Jason Castro topped the scoring for the Tropang Texters finishing with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Alapag and 3 others scored in double figures to backstop Castro.  Rookie sensation Calvin Abueva had a career-high 23 points along 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block to lead the Aces.  Big men Gabby Espinas and Sonny Thoss combined for 24 points and 16 rebounds.  Alaska missed 11 free throws in the game and they allowed Talk ‘N Text to hit 9 long range bombs with 3 coming from Alapag.

The semifinal exit is somehow a big achievement for the rebuilding Aces after finishing near the bottom of the standings in all 3 conferences of last year.  The drafting of Calvin Abueva and acquisition of Jvee Casio has somehow reinvigorated the proud Uytengsu franchise.  Alaska is expected to be a tough contender in the next conferences and with more time together it will not be long that they will be gunning for their 14th title to move to solo second all-time behind the 19 by San Miguel.  Alaska is currently tied at second with the legendary but defunct Crispa franchise.

Talk ‘N Text will try to capture its 4th title in the last 7 conferences. The 3 past titles were with teams handled by now-national coach Chot Reyes.  The Tropang Texters are now being mentored by grand slam coach Norman Black who recently came back pro leagues after leading the Ateneo Blue Eagles to 5 consecutive championships in the UAAP.

The scores: 

TALK N’ TEXT 83 – Castro 16, Alapag 15, Dillinger 11, Williams 11, De Ocampo 11,Carey 6, Fonacier 5, Peek 5, Reyes 3, Raymundo 0, Aban 0.

ALASKA 78 – Abueva 23, Espinas 13, Thoss 11, Casio 10, Hontiveros 7, Baracael 6, Jazul 5, Baguio 3, Dela Cruz 0.

Quarters: 25-18, 42-41, 64-62, 83-78

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2013 PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals: RoS finishes off San Mig Coffee in Game 6

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters is in the finals(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After failing to finish off rivals San Mig Coffee before 2012 ended, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters made sure that they will start the new year with a big bang by beating the last San Miguel franchise left in this year’s Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, 90-83.  The victory prevented a do or die game on Sunday.   The win also meant that the Welcoat franchise is going to its first ever Philippine Cup Finals.

The series loss is San Mig Coffee’s second straight defeat to Rain or Shine after they fell to practically the same team in last year’s Governor’s Cup finals.  Coach Yeng Guiao of the Elasto Painters has a chance to win his first ever title in the All-Filipino conference.  He lost in his other 2 appearances to Purefoods, the franchise that is now carrying the San Mig Coffee Brand.  Guiao looks to add to his 6 PBA titles and should he win the championship he will somehow complete a coaching career grand slam.

Game 6 was a very tight game as the Mixers took the lead at the end of the first two quarters.  Jeff Chan led a spirited rally in the 3rd period to turn a 4 point deficit at the half to a 3 point lead going to the payoff period.  The Painter’s hustle lead to multiple possessions and it was apparent that RoS had the fresher legs in the final quarter as they pulled away.    Peter June Simon singlehandedly tried to rally the Mixers by leading a 7-0 charge to trim a double digit deficit to just 4 points at 80-84 with less than 2 minutes left in the game.  Jervy Cruz quickly responded  for the Painters with an and 1 play to push the lead back to 7.  Chan increased the lead to 9 with less than 40 seconds to go.  Simon hit a three to make it a 2-possession game at 83-89.  The Mixers were forced to foul Beau Belga who managed to get a split for the final score as Chan stole the ball from Mark Barroca to end the game and best of seven series.

Chan led the winners with 27 big points.  He got great support from Paul Lee with 15, Jervy Cruz with 14, and Gabe Norwood with 10.  Simon topped the scoring with 29 while Marc Pingris and Joe DeVance combined for 29 for the Mixers.  James Yap had another mediocre game as he ended up with just 6 points and an unbelievable 20% Ft shooting (1 for 5). The series is probably one of the worst ever for Yap in his PBA career.

Rain or Shine will wait for the winner of the Talk ‘N Text vs. Alaska series. Game 6 of that match-up will be played tomorrow.  A game 6 victory by the defending champion Texters will pit them against the Painters for the 2013 Philippine Cup crown.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 90 – Chan 27, Lee 15, Cruz 14, Norwood 10, Belga 7, Quinahan 5, Rodriguez 4, Tang 3, Arana 3, Ibanes 2, Tiu 0, Matias 0.

SANMIG COFFEE 83 – Simon 29, Pingris 15, Devance 14, Barroca 6, Intal 6, Yap 6, Reavis 4, Villanueva 3, Gaco 0, De Ocampo 0.

Quarters: 19-22, 48-52, 71-68, 90-83

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• Rain or Shine Aims To Regain Momentum; San Mig Hopes To Sustain Momentum (richavady.wordpress.com)
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