The Stands: An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

April 26, 2024

National University gets a playoff bonus first. (AUGUST DELA CRUZ)

Hey there sports fan, Before anything else, how about we give the St. Benilde Lady Blazers their much-deserved share of the spotlight? Also, we did an interesting primer on the three artistic gymnastics events that Carlos Yulo will focus on as he seeks podium finishes in the Paris Olympics later this year. You can read the three-part "The Art of Yulo" series here, here and here.    That series will give you an  idea about how performances are scored in the Olympics and will also  introduce you to Yulo's bag of tricks, including the answer to this trivia question: The Nagornyy triple pike is a move performed in what event in artistic gymnastics? We will share the answer here at the end of this email. So, it must feel great to be a Lady Bulldog nowadays. Entering the second preliminary round of the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament, National U was at third place, behind the surprising University of Santo Tomas and defending champion La Salle. But NU has swept the second round and is now the first team to qualify for twice-to-beat protection in the Final Four. And make ni mistake about it, the Lady Bulldogs plan to leave that semifinal benefit unused.

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Chery Tiggo drove itself into the semifinals and PLDT out of contention.  (AUGUST DELA CRUZ)

Meanwhile... The present and the future clashed in the PVL All-Filipino, with Choco Mucho's powerful Sisi Rondina battling Farm Fresh rising star Trisha Tubu. Both are excellent hitters and served up a preview of future clashes. Needless to say, Rondina was impressed with what she saw.  Meanwhile, it took some serious work but Chery Tiggo reached the semifinals anyway. The Crossovers found the Galeries Tower Highrisers a surprisingly tough nut to crack and had to rally for a five-set victory on Thursday evening.  That win but Chery Tiggo in the Final Four and also sealed that cast after officially ousting PLDT.  What we're up to next: We will be tracking three-point milestones in the PBA as well as keep tabs on the Philippine Cup, which is now moving to the homestretch of the elimination round. We'll also continue our coverage of the PVL, UAAP and the NCAA volleyball tournaments so keep it here on all your Inquirer platforms. Number of the Week: 53 Three-pointers Marcio Lassiter needs to make as of this letter's posting to become the all-time leader in that department.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We are the saling pusa (outsiders) compared to NU and La Salle, so we would really just want to gate-crash their party.” —UST Tigresses coach Kungfu Reyes, on chasing a top-two berth.

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Floor exercise. That's the answer to the trivia question above. Think you can ace the rest of the quiz? head over to our Viber community and try the test out! Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).