The STANDS - An Inquirer Sports Newsletter

 

June 28, 2024

In France, it's all . (PBA IMAGES)

Hey there sports fan, From the looks of it, Team Philippines to the Paris Olympics will be a fairly big one. As of this missive, 20 athletes have already qualified to compete in the glamorous French capital next month with more still looking to book their tickets. No one is making any predictions, but as Olympic silver medalist Nesthy Petecio said, every athlete who competes in the Olympics dreams of winning the gold. Petecio, the first Filipino female boxer to finish on the podium in the Olympics, has taken some sort of an elder's role in Team Philippines and she hopes her "chill" approach to the Games will help her and her teammates ease the pressure in Paris. Team Philippines, after all, is eyeing a very difficult target: Bettering the performance of Team Philippines during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. That delegation did not only end the country's search for an Olympic champion, it also brought home to silver medals and one bronze finish.  There are a lot of athletes who can figure prominently in the gold hunt: Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, the No. 2 in the world, is separated only by the diameter of a dinner plate from world record holder Mondo Duplantis. Gymnast Carlos Yulo is a world champion many times over. And perhaps the most probable source of glory: The Philippine boxing team carries probably the best credentials entering an Olympic staging. They will carry the flag for the Philippines in Paris, quite literally. It's going to be an  interesting battle for Team Philippines, which will be well-equipped to go toe-to-toe with the world's best in France. Also hoping to catch the last plane to Paris is Gilas Pilipinas, which will participate in a tough Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia. The national basketball team has kicked off its preparations for that tournament with "much-needed difficulty" and will fly to Turkiye to further polish their game.  Speaking of Olympians, here's a trivia question:  In what place did Elreen Ann Ando finish in the weightlifting competitions of the Tokyo Olympics? Check out the answer at the end of this email. By the way, if you're looking for a few reads from the recent Collegiate Press Corps Awards Night, check this and this out.

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The PVL's Draft Combine allowed hopefuls to showcase their skills. (MARLO CUETO)

Meanwhile... …The Premier Volleyball League set up a Draft Combine to prepare teams for the trailblazing PVL Rookie Draft on July 8. And the teams were impressed with how the camp ran as it allowed them to map out how they will proceed with their selctions. ZUS Coffee, which owns the No. 1 overall pick, has made it clear that it will go with La Salle product Thea Gagate and is now just drawing up plans for the rest of the selection process.  There are 47 rookies in all who signed up for the Draft. Some are familiar names from the collegiate scene. Some have come from afar to chase their dreams, even from beyond the country's borders.  Check out our dispatches from the Combine here. What we're up to next: WE will track the plans of PVL teams as they prepare for the July 8 ROokie Draft and hopefully get a feel of how the selections will go, at least for the first round. We will also have more features on our Olympians. We will also be covering, remotely, Gilas Pilipinas as it shoots for an Olympic berth.  Number of the Week: 7-foot-3 Fiba-listed height of Zhang Ziyu, the 17-year-old girl currently leading China's bid in the U18 girls tournament.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “My priority is the national team and I hope [whatever PVL team picks me] will be understanding of that.” —Julia Coronel, La Salle setter, on balancing time as a rookie hopeful in the PVL and a national pool member.

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107. 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).