Carlo Biado captures billiard crown anew

Biado dethrones Gorst to win World Pool 9-Ball crown

Niel Victor C. Masoy
Manila Times
27 July 2025

MANILA, Philippines — For a moment there, Filipino cue artist Carlo Biado looked like he was going to find himself on the short end of Russian-American champ Fedor Gorst's fightback.

Trailing early at 0-2 in the race to 15 final of the World Pool Championship (WPC) 9-Ball at the Green Halls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia early Sunday in Manila, Biado zoomed to a 9-2 lead and stayed in control at 13-9.

Then he scratched the ball off his break in the 23rd rack and it resulted in back-to-back runouts for Gorst, 13-11.

Biado, 41, committed another blunder in the 25th rack, incurring a bad shot after he inadvertently hit the 8-ball first instead of 2 from a tough angle.  

Gorst, 25, pounced on the opportunity and proceeded for another pair of runouts to tie at 13, turning what once looked like a lopsided game into an thrilling match down the stretch.

The momentum shifted in the 27th rack when Gorst got himself a dry break, as Biado turned to his clutch-shot making for a runout to get on the hill and another one for the win, 15-13, and the distinction as the first Filipino player to become a 2-time WPC titlist.

The other Filipino champs were Efren 'Bata' Reyes in 1999, Ronnie Alcano in 2006, and Francisco 'Django' Bustamante in 2010.

"I'm happy because I'm a 2-time world champion now," Biado, who first won the event in 2017, said in an interview with Matchroom Pool. "I could bring this trophy back to the Philippines. I'm so happy a lot of Filipinos were watching and rooting for me (here in the venue)."

Biado added:

"This final is an unforgettable game because Fedor is one of the best players in the world and he's a monster in the table. I'm worried even when I'm leading at 9-2 because if he gets a break, he has a monster break, and that happened today but I'm still focused on the game even when he came back."

Relieved and ecstatic after pocketing the 9-ball in the 28th rack, Biado let out a yell, punched the air multiple times, and climbed to the table top for more celebratory shouting.

Who wouldn't when you make history as the first Filipino player to become a 2-time world champ, when you make $250,000 prize money or more than P14.2 million from it, and when you join the elite list of Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Chao Fong-Pang, Thorsten Hohmann and Gorst as multi-time World Pool champions.

Biado defeated compatriot Jefferey Ignacio, Polish Wiktor Zielinski, English Chris Melling, Taiwanese Ko Ping Chung, and another Pinoy player Bernie Regalario in the semifinal before dethroning Gorst in the final.

Gorst made $100,000 or more than P5.7 million as a finalist while Regalario bagged $50,000 or more than P2.8 million like Albanian Kledio Kaci, who lost to Gorst in the other semis bracket Saturday evening.

Philippine weightlifting is continuously producing world champions

Philippines junior lifters deliver gold medals

Joey Villar 
 The Philippine Star 
September 21, 2024 

MANILA, Philippines — Like a factory, Philippine weightlifting is continuously producing world champions.

Two more emerged from the ashes in Lovely Inan and Angeline Colonia Thursday who each captured two gold medals and a silver in the IWF World Junior Championships in Leon, Spain.

The lift of Inan, 19, was as lovely as her name as she struck gold in clean and jerk with 100 kilograms and total with 179kg to add to her silver in the snatch with a 79kg, or a kilo behind Colombian Dahyanne Lopez Alvarez’s 80kg in the women’s 49kg class.

Colonia, 18, for her part, was cherubic on the mat as she soared to triumphs in snatch (74kg) and total (162kg) in the women’s 45kg division while settling for silver in the clean and jerk (88kg) to match Inan’s total.

“This were their first steps for a thousand miles, ‘pang 2028 LA Olympics na mga ito. One or two of them will get Olympic medals,” said Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella, whose sport has already produced an Olympic gold medalist in Hidilyn Diaz and countless Asian and world champions in the past.

Another Filipina, Rose Jean Ramos, was sixth in the same division with a total lift of 165kg.

Eron Borres and Prince Kiel delos Santos went for medals but faltered in the men’s 55kg with total lifts of 227kg and 222kg, respectively, in the event dominated by Vietnamese K Duong (253kg).

Still to plunge into action are Jodie Peralta in the women’s 55kg and Albert Ian delos Santos in the men’s 67kg.

PH wins at World Hip Hop Dance Championship

Philippines wins five medals at 2024 World Hip Hop Dance Championship

By GMA Integrated News
 August 13, 2024

The Philippines has emerged victorious at the recently held 2024 World Hip Hop Dance Championship in the United States.

Upeepz was hailed as this year's world champion in the MegaCrew Division, while A-Kidz was named world champion in the Varsity Division.

The Peepz also bagged the silver medal in the Adult Division.

On the other hand, both A-Kidz and HQ won bronze medals in the JV MegaCrew Division and Adult Division, respectively.

The 2024 World Hip Hop Dance Championship was held in Phoenix, Arizona from Aug. 3 to 10 where more than fifty affiliated countries participated.

In 2023, the Philippines also took home three medals from the World Hip Hop Dance Championship: a gold and bronze medal were won by Legit Status and UP Streetdance Club in the MegaCrew Division, respectively, while HQ bagged another gold medal in the Adult Division.

The World Hip Hop Dance Championship is considered among the largest and most respected hip-hop dance competitions in the world.

Founded in 2002 by Hip Hop International (HHI) co-founders Howard and Karen Schwartz, the competition brings world class dancers to the fore to showcase the very best of hip-hop. Winners in the past have gone on to choreograph for various international artists, including Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Blackpink, BTS, and more. - — Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA Integrated News

Philippines wins gold at World Choir Games 2024

Philippines wins gold at World Choir Games 2024

By Sherilyn Untalan
GMA Integrated News
July 21, 2024

A choir from Quezon City has gained recognition on the international scene.

The Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation, Inc. Concert Chorus was hailed as the Champion of the World Choir Games Mixed Chamber Choirs Category in the Champions Competition in Auckland, New Zealand, on Friday.

They also clinched the gold medal in the sacred choral music with accompaniment category.

In the last year's edition of the competition, held in Gangneung, South Korea, the group joined the Open Competitions where they won 2 Golden Diplomas in the Mixed Youth and Musica Contemporanea Categories that qualifed them to join this year's Champions Competition.

The World Choir Games is said to be the biggest choral festival and competition in the world. Two hundred fifty choirs from 42 countries competed in the event, which took place in Auckland from July 10-20.

In an interview with GMA News Online, choir member Michael Kenneth Fabian shared his group’s reaction during the awarding ceremony.

“Nu'ng results time na, kinakabahan na kami. Nu'ng in-announce na out of the 6 choirs, kami na lang 'yung hindi pa natawag, doon nag-conclude na sila na kami 'yung matatawag. Sobrang saya na namin lahat. Naka-jacket kaming lahat kasi ang lamig. Pero nu'ng bago tawagin, sabi namin, tanggalin na 'yang mga jacket ninyo, kasi aakyat tayo sa stage, kakanta ng Lupang Hinirang,” he said.

(We felt nervous when the results were announced. When our group was the only one among the seven choirs to not be called, it was concluded that we would win. Everybody was overjoyed. We were in jackets because it was cold. However, we made the decision to remove our jackets before the winner was declared since we were going to perform Lupang Hinirang on stage.)

According to Fabian, it was the first time in more than a decade that the Lupang Hinirang, the national anthem of the Philippines, was performed at an international choral competition.

“We are so happy with what we have achieved. All the challenges and fatigue, all of those concluded with a joyous song, our national anthem. We were able to raise our flag and make our country proud,” he added.

The choir consists of 30 singing individuals, along with five board members, supporting staff, and conductor Nicanor Castro Infante.

They'd spent nearly a year preparing for the competition.

Most of the members are graduates of the children's choir program and range in age from 18 to 27. Fabian said they had difficulty sticking to rehearsal schedules because the majority are still students.

But despite the age differences, he said, “What unites us is our passion for singing and the friendship that has formed.''

Fabian hopes that since Filipinos are well-known for their love of music and have a reputation as talented singers, other local government units will also make investments in and promote the performing arts sector.

“Everywhere you go, performing arts cannot be taken away from the name of the Philippines. We sing because it is part of who we are,” he said.  — VBL/KG/BM, GMA Integrated News

EJ Obiena Is Ushering In A Golden Age of Filipino Sport

 EJ Obiena Is Ushering In A Golden Age of Filipino Sport

BY JASON INOCENCIO
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MODESTO III BANZO

Vogue Philippines
01 July 2024

Despite facing stiff competition, EJ Obiena is steadfast on his track to the Paris summer games. “Being in a constant grind is immeasurable,” he says. “And I hope by Paris I should be able to put them into fruition and use all the knowledge that I have, and hopefully bring back a medal.”

This 2024 marks a century of Philippine participation in the Olympic Games. Ironically, the first time the country sent athletes to the Olympiad in 1924, Paris, France was also the host city. It took almost a month for that first contingent of Filipino athletes to travel from Manila to Paris a century ago. It would take 97 years before a Filipino would finally win Olympic gold.

In the century since that first Paris Olympiad, a new generation of Filipinos has been training and preparing their minds and bodies in the hopes of repeating what weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz accomplished at the Tokyo Olympics. One of them is Ernest John (“EJ”) Obiena, the Tondo-born pole vaulter who has dominated the sport in recent seasons.

The biggest obstacle

What has not been said already about Obiena? He has dominated Asian competition in recent years and has consistently been ranked #2 globally, as per the World Athletics Organization. Since his participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he’s seen a flurry of gold medals, including setting the new Asian record of six meters. Marking a golden age for his chosen discipline of pole vaulting, his achievements position him as a formidable contender in global athletics, making his pursuit of gold at the Paris Olympics.

His main competition also happens to be a friend in Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, whose performance has pushed the bar higher than anyone else in history. He’s broken the men’s pole vault record on eight separate occasions, clearing 6.24 meters at an opening Diamond League meet in China last April. 

“He [Duplantis] has lifted the sport to a level it’s never been,” Obiena says of his rival. “And he’s pulling everyone with him. That’s the good side of it. The bad side of it is that jumping as high as six meters now would not mean a win.” 

Despite facing fierce competition from Duplantis, Obiena remains steadfast and resolute in his pursuits. His unwavering determination drives him to challenge the heights set, proving his dedication to excelling even more. “I’m a competitor, I want to win,” Obiena quickly replies. “Every time I step on the track, I want to win. Having [Duplantis] in the picture makes things more difficult, but at the same time, sweeter as well.”

The Olympic dream

After a run at this year’s fast-approaching Summer Games, what he’ll undoubtedly take home with him will be more than medals, but an ushering of a new era of Filipino sporting, inspired by his resilience in the face of his sole hurdle in Duplantis. 

And there is hope yet. Diaz changed the entire field of Philippine sports when she brought home silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics and went even further with her Tokyo Games gold. Her win has sparked something in the athlete: the idea that Olympic gold isn’t only a faraway dream, but a very possible outcome in his endeavors. 

He bares that the experience he has gained from the Tokyo Olympics, as well as other pole vault competitions, have allowed him to be calmer heading to Paris. “Hopefully being in a constant grind with these world-class pole vaulters is immeasurable, and I hope by Paris I should be able to put them into fruition and use all the knowledge that I have and hopefully bring back a medal.”

Magsayo wins via UD vs Mexican fighter

Magsayo wins via UD vs Mexican fighter

Story by The Manila Times
16 June 2024

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino pug Mark Magsayo emerged with a unanimous decision win against Mexican Eduardo Ramirez in their World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Dominant in his second fight at the 130-pound class, Magsayo won with margins of 97-92, 97-92, and 99-90 from the three judges.

"It was a great fight. Eduardo is a good, great fighter. I know him. It's a great fight tonight. Thank you to all the fans," said the former World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight champ.

"WBA thank you so much for the opportunity. I'll give my best to become a world champion again for this belt."

UP College of Law World Champion at Jessup Cup

UP College of Law wins world’s largest and oldest moot court event

Story by Zeus Legaspi 
Inquirer.net
07 April 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law bagged the title of World Champions at the 2024 Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition, it announced on Sunday.

In a post on Facebook, UP College of Law said that its team’s victory comes nearly three decades after their last triumph in the same competition held in Washington D.C. in the United States.

Historic triumph
“The entire UP community joins in celebrating this historic triumph, which not only underscores UP Law’s legacy of excellence but also inspires future generations of legal scholars and practitioners worldwide,” UP College of Law’s post read. 

In a separate post on its website, UP College of Law said that the “Jessup” is the world’s largest and oldest moot court competition for law students, with participants from over 600 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions.