Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Azkals advance with big victory


A star-studded Philippine side assembled to achieve qualification to the AFC Challenge Cup next year completed the job and put an exclamation point with a resilient and resolute effort.

Facing a side it hasn’t beaten before, the 10-men Azkals mustered quality and resolve to overcome a stubborn and physical Turkmenistan side, 1-0, last night to clinch top spot in Group E before a raucous crowd at  Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Phil Younghusband picked up from where he left off against Cambodia, scoring the lone goal in the 67th minute as the Azkals finished top to join Myanmar, Afghanistan, Palestine and Kyrgyzstan in the eight-team tournament.

“In the end, the one who fights hard was rewarded,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss. “We wanted to qualify as top of the group and we were able to do it.”

Turkmenistan, the 2012 losing finalist to North Korea which has already beaten the Philippines twice in this tournament, also qualified as the top second-place team together with Bangladesh.

The Maldives was already assured of the spot as hosts in the tournament which rewards the champion of a spot in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Austrlia.

The victory bore hallmarks of the Azkals’ strengths. Defenders Rob Gier, Juani Guirado, Dennis Cagara and Carli de Murga proved equal to every Turkmenistan attack, while Chris Greatwich put in a brilliant shift at midfield after a long absence.

Stephan Schrock dazzled on the left with his work rate and creativity, engineering chances for Javier Patino and Younghusband.

The goal was on equal parts a defensive lapse from Turkmenistan, Cagara’s hard work and Patino’s composure that gave Younghusband the opening to fire home the game-winner.

It was Younghusband’s 33rd goal in 47 matches for the national side in his fifth in two matches, although he could have gotten in the scoresheet as early as the opening minute when Schrock’s pass found him at the far post only to be denied by the post.

But Younghusband’s evening ended early when he was sent off with five minutes remaining for a second yellow card for pulling back a Turkmenistan defender. Younghusband was booked in the first half for an obvious handball.
Gier, the stand-in captain with Chieffy Caligdong on the bench, took pride at another remarkable effort from the team.

““It’s the team spirit that’s special about this team,” said Gier. “We can see out there that when it was needed, when we needed that extra yard and put a tackle in when we had to put our body in line, we do it. We do it for each other. We do it for the country.”

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was kept out of the starting lineup again, but the former first choice man between the posts didn’t mind the snub.

“It would have been nice to have played but coach has made the decision and I have to respect that,” Etheridge told the Inquirer. “It’s a team sport and I’m here for the team and always ready to battle in the next game.”

Etheridge carried a one-game suspension to the tournament for his conduct in the third-place match against Palestine in the Challenge Cup in Nepal last year.

via Inquirer.net

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Denzel Bowles, Michael Dunigan under early consideration for naturalization for future Philippine teams


Denzel Bowles of San Mig Coffee and Michael Dunigan of Air 21 have been two of the most impressive imports in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup.

Bowles and Dunigan have turned the head of no less than Chot Reyes, the coach of the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team.

Reyes said the two reinforcements are under early consideration for naturalization so they could suit up for the Philippine squad in the future.

“I’ve already talked to their coaches (Tim Cone and Franz Pumaren) about this,” said Reyes.

Granting a player Filipino citizenship is a long process, and requires long-term commitment for the naturalization candidate.

“One year kasi ang process,” Pumaren told InterAKTV. “But Dunigan is open to it.”
The Philippine team earlier broached the possibility of naturalizing NBA center Javale McGee, but issues with the player’s insurance requirements halted the process.

Another naturalized center, Marcus Douthit, will lead the Philippine team in the upcoming FIBA Asia Championship this August. Douthit acquired his Filipino citizenship in 2011, and led the Philippines to a fourth-place finish in that year’s Asian championship.

via InterAktv

Saturday, March 2, 2013

March FIDE chess rating list, Wesley So enters the 2700 club


The World Chess Federation has published the March edition of the FIDE rating list. Magnus Carlsen continues at the top position with 2872, maintaining the same rating as during the February rating list. In fact, only one player from the February top 10 had active rated game – Viswanathan Anand, who added 4 ELO pints at Grenke Classic.
With the currently concluded Reykjavik Open 2013, Wesley So enters breaks the 2700 barrier and appears at 2701 at 50th postion. A total of 52 players are now at the 2700 club, with the average rating of the top 100 list remaining at 2703. Eduardo Iturrizaga also climbs to his highest ever position, at 2650 after 19 games in February.  Grzegorz Gajewski also appears for the first time on the list, at 101th position with 2650 ELO.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Wesley So Wins Reykjavic Open

The 2013 Reykjavik Open finished with a 3-way tie for first place on 8/10 points between Pavel Eljanov, Wesley So and the Egyptian GM Amin Bassem.

The tournament will be remembered as the event where 13 year-old Wei Yi gained his 3rd GM norm to become the youngest Grandmaster in the world today, and the 4th youngest ever!

The 2013 Reykjavik Open was held from 19-27 February. The event was a 10-round Swiss with more than 30 Grandmasters taking part. The time control used was 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game with a 30 second increment from the start. The prize fund totalled €15.000.