The 16th Guangzhou Asian Games in China

The 16th Guangzhou Asian Games kicked off last November 12, 2010 showcasing the vast, distinct and colorful culture of the world’s most populated country in the world which is China.

Countries from all corners of Asia are here for the conclave sending their best athletes in various sports discipline (ubiquitous and traditional), with hope that they can collar some measure of respect in the region by bagging the medals at stake or rip some existing records.

The Far Eastern countries represented host China, South Korea, Japan, Hongkong-China, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Mongolia and Macau-China boasts athletes that can perform very well even in the world stage, are the perennial favorites in capturing most of the medals up for grab. And halfway through the games, the region amassed a lion’s share of the medals. Far East Asian countries especially China, South Korea and Japan, are heavy favorites in swimming, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, dance sports, gymnastics, chess, athletics, archery, cycling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, softball and canoeing and kayaking.

The former territories that formed Union of Soviet Socialists Republic (USSR) like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyztan and Tajikistan which comprises Central Asia are also contending for top honors in the event. The region is strong in chess, dancesports, gymnastics, cycling, boxing, athletics, tennis, football, basketball, rowing and canoeing and kayaking.

The Game’s darkhorse, the Middle East or Western Asian countries are locked for a battle and will surely make their presence felt in events like basketball, football, judo, taekwondo, and wrestling. Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Kuwait, Palestine, Syria, and Jordan form the Middle East bloc.

The South Asia which is consists of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Seychelles are pinning their hopes in events like cricket, khabaddi, tennis, chess, athletics, shooting, weightlifting, and boxing, billiards and snooker.

Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Timor Leste from South East Asia are force to reckon with in boxing, chess, bowling, golf, sepak takraw and billiards and snooker.

The games which will end on November 27, 2010, will truly showcase the strength, wit and courage of the participating athletes from all over Asia.

China as expected is leading charge in the medal tally followed by South Korea and Japan.

Related Links:

Philippines Beat India in Fifth Round to Wrest Second Place in Asian Games

Philippines Upsets Kazakhstan in 4^th Round of Chess Competition in Asiad

2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou China

The Complete Lists of Filipino Medalists in the 2010 Asian Games

Philippines Loses to Japan in Asian Games

Lebanon Five Beat Smart Gilas Gains Semis

The Smart Gilas Pilipinas yielded to the tournament’s defending champion Al-Riyadi in a hardly-fought and very close battle for a finals berth of the 21st Dubai Invitational. The Lebanon side score a nail-biting 79-76 victory over the Philippine squad. The repulsed RP team however gained respect they deserved, as they bowed to their rivals after giving their all-out effort and their heart. The Philippine quintet almost pulled the rug over their opponents which is beefed by American imports. With the numerous Filipino migrant workers rooting for the Smart Gilas team and providing some measure of morale support (the sitting capacity of the stadium here is about 5,000 and a third of this are Filipinos), the Philippine team pushed the favored Lebanese to the hilt. as it even lead the game nine-point with less than four minutes left in the contest. The Lebanese unleashed a ferocious stance in the crucial minutes as they whipped out the zone very well to take control of the game, and eventually wrapping up the game over the gritty and feisty Filipinos side. The Lebanese relied heavily on their experience to overcome the Filipinos. RP Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said, “I think experience came into play in this game. They put the zone and we suddenly couldn’t execute’. CJ Giles, the Smart Gilas’ original choice for naturalization scored a game-high 29 points, several of them coming from thunderous dunks.In other semi-final game, the Iranians trounced Al-Jalaa of Syria 95-93 to advance in the finals. The Filipinos lost its two games without their American reinforcement, including a setback to finalist Al Jalaa on their opening game. Smart Gilas also had a shallow bench as its key players were humbled by injuries. Abesent in the game against the Lebanese team were Rabeh Al Husseini and Aldrech Ramos, while players with injuries includes Tiu (left leg), Mark Barocca (back), Dylan Ababou(nose), Jason Ballesteros (left shoulder), JV Casio (contusion) and Japeth Aguilar (recovering from dengue). Toroman said, “Our problem is lack of ceiling we don’t have too much inside game, and that’s really a big problem. I think thought that Jason and Greg gave their all,” and  he added, “Lebanon has two NBA players, lots of Americans, lots of national players, that’s why I told the players not to be disappointed. e have to be proud of and I’m proud of them because they showed that for 10 months they would be very competitive in Asia.”

The semi-final score

Al-Riyadi 79- Giles 29, Colson 20, El Turk, Mahmoud 8, Frieje 7, Vogel 3, Ahmed 3

Smart Gilas – Baracael 23, Tiu 17, Casio 17, Barroca 8, Lassiter 7, Ballesteros 4, Aguilar 4, Ababou 3, Slaughter 0

Philippine Team Eyeing Jared Homan and More Filipino-Foreigner Players

The Philippine Smart Gilas team is now pinning its hope on Jared Homan as a naturalization prospect to reinforce the team in the shaded lane. The 27-year old Homan of Iowa State is currently playing in the Greek League as contract was sent and team as waiting for his reply.

The 6-10 Homan averaged an impressive 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 31 outings. On his last game with Iowa State he amassed 19 points and 20 rebounds in a losing effort against eventual 2005 NCAA champion North Carolina.

The aggressive effort of the Gilas team is not only in acquiring a naturalized player but also plan to obtain promising Filipino-foreigners to bolster its lineup further.

The team is eyeing two Filipino-Italians 6’6 Christian Stanhardinger of Nebraska and 6’1 Chris Bancher of Seattle University. Filipino-America Chris Lutz of Marshall University is set to join the team in a tournament in Doha, Qatar.

The team’s itinerary in the remaining months ahead includes: a trip to Las Vegas to play five games and then the team departs to Canada to play three more games. The team is also competing in Stankovic Cup in Beirut, Lebanon, the Jones Cup in Taipei and the tough Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

In their recent Aussie stint the Philippine hacked out impressive and scintillating victories. The team came home with five wins and a draw.

In their trip to basketball powerhouse Serbia, the Philippine team missing a reinforcement in the middle and plagued with injuries, absorbed four losses and won just once. The Serbs mightily put the lights out of the Filipinos, by taking full advantage of their sheer height and heft. The losses of the Filipinos were on the Hands of Metalac Valjevo, 76-86, KK Hemofarm Stada Vrsac 67-98, Partizan Belgrad 71-87 and UKK Beograd 79-80. The solo win registered by the Filipinos was against Super Fund 91-84.

Fil-Am Marco Lassiter was the team’s brightest player in Serbia as he unleashed 17 points against Metalac and Beograd and 21 points against Partizan.

Smart Gilas Bronze Medal Finish Glitters Like Gold

Smart Gilas Pilipinas final push for a breakthrough was indeed startling as they hack out an impressive 107-98 victory over their early tormentor Al Jalaa of Syria to finish their Middle East caging campaign in  the 21st  Dubai International Tournament joust with fireworks and jubilation. The Filipinos wound up third and they just won for themselves a bronze medal  in a very tough field. This is indeed fitting for a country longing for a worldwide recognition that is long overdue. The win catapulted the Philippines in the Asian basketball again before throngs of Filipino workers who witnessed the game with gusto.

Marnel Baracael collected 26 points while Mark Barroca chipped in  18 of his 21 points in the last quarter for the Philippines quintet. The Filipinos made a remarkable 18 straight freethrows in the crucial minutes of the game then posted an impressive 40  points in the fourth quarter, to subdue their Middle East counterparts. Mark Barrocca’s ferocious plays truly guided the RP Smart Gilas in dismantling the Al Jalaa of Syria, black and blue as they avenged their early loss by handing the Syrian a  resounding beating in their bronze medal match. Barroca converted a trey beyond the rainbow arc that allowed the importless Filipino squad take control of the game in the last two minutes.  The desperate Syrians used hacking tactics to virtually stop the clock in their favor, but the Filipinos with nerves of steel made 18 free throws to foil any chance the Syrians have in the game.

“We’re disappointed after the loss (in their semifinals match with Al-Riyadi). But we recovered pretty well and showed mental toughness in the end,”  RP coach Rajko Toroman said.

Freethrows by Japeth Aguilar and Chris Tiu finally gave the Filipinos the lead, 78-76. Barroca then unleashed a lethal trey and Baracael converted his freethrows in the charity stripe to send the their opponents in fouling the Filipinos, after leading by six at 89-83.

Iran’s Mahram subdued Al Riyadi of Lebanon, 85-67, to bag the much-coveted crown in the finals match of the tournament. Samad Bahrami bagged the MVP  plum whilst Smart Gilas’ JV Casio captured  guard award and former Smart Gilas import CJ Giles of Al Riyadi was heralded as the best center.

Serbian coach said  “This tournament allowed us to earn the respect of the other Asian teams”. Toroman also thanked the Filipino crowd for their not wavering support to the RP quintet side.

Toroman again didn’t use naturalization candidate Jamal Sampson for the game. The Philippines lost its two previous games with Sampson not playing in the game. Instead the Serbian coach who steered the Iranian National team to the Olympics last year relied heavily on Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter and Jason Ballesteros to control the center against the taller and heftier the Syrians which is reinforced by seven-footer Zendon Hamilton, 6-foot-10 Garnett Thompson and guard Demetric Shaw. Also the formidable Syrian team also boasts three Brazilian-Syrians in 6-10 Marcelle Correa, 6-11 Eder Gorges  and Michael Maadanli, who collected 23 points for the losing Al Jalaa. The Smart Gilas team lost to Al Jalaa in its opening game, 76-90.

The Filipinos however recovered fast as they posted sweet victories over Champville of Lebanon 77-71, Zain 85-82, and Al Nasr of the UAE 79-72.

The Nationals trounced Al Jazeera of Egypt in the quarterfinals 82-78, but was beaten by the defending champion Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the semi-final.

 The Scores:

SMART GILAS 107—Baracael 26, Barroca 21, Tiu 12, Aguilar 10, Casio 10, Lassiter 9, Cawaling 9, Balesteros 4, Slaughter 4, Ababou 0.

AL JALAA 98—Maadanli 23, Correa 18, Shaw 16, Hamilton 10, Gorges 9, Al Sharif 8, Thompson 7, Meraneh 5, Papazian 2.

Quarter Scores: 18-26, 40-48, 67-

70, 107-98