In 1936, the Philippines first participated in the Olympics at Berlin in Germany finishing at fifth place from a pool of 23 counties worldwide. Likewise, it finished third in the 1954 World Championship in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. To date, these are the best records that any Asian country has ever accomplished at the world stage.

At the Asian level, Philippines used to dominate the Asian Basketball Championship, the predecessor of the FIBA-Asia Championship. On seven occasions from 1960 to 1973, the Philippine team would up gold four times and ended up second twice. Likewise, at the Asian Games, the Filipinos won four straight gold medals from 1951 until 1962.

It all started in the 1970’s when the Filipinos’ performance in international basketball started to decline. It came to its lowest point in the middle of 1990s when the Philippines could not finish better than ninth place on four occasions from 1993-1999 in FIBA-Asia Championship. At the Asian Games, the Philippines could not surpassed its silver medal performance at  Beijing in 1990. The best it could accomplish was bronze medal in 1998 at Bangkok.

Basketball in the Philippines was on a backslide then. However, from 2005 until 2007, different stakeholders had been on a roller coaster ride forming a new federation to finally end decades of disappointment. In February 2007, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP)was formally established. It paves the way for the Philippines to regain its long lost glory in the game most Filipinos have been so passionate.

The new federation’s formation has been gradually producing results. At the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship, the Philippines improved to ninth place from a fifteenth place finish in 2003, the last time it participated in that tournament. Besides, SBP revived the participation of the country in the youth competition in the U18 and U16 categories. In fact, the Phl U18 wound up seventh in 2008 from a dismal thirteenth in 2004. Two years later, the U18 team improved to the fifth spot. The U16 team, in the meantime, is the most impressive so far. In its maiden tournament in 2009 held in Johor Bahru in Malaysia, Team Pilipinas U16 almost made it to the finals but eventually settled for fourth place.

SBP is at the forefront in regaining our basketball supremacy in Asia. With the Philippines’ surging performance in the last three years of which the SBP is at the helm, we can truly say that the Filipinos are on the road to redemption in international basketball.

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Hanshin Tigers outfielder Norihiro Akahoshi has decided to hang up his jersey. At 33, Akahoshi has been suffering from pain in the neck and lower back which could lead to life threatening spinal injury. He has played only with the Tigers in his entire career in the NPB.

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Retired South Korean boxer Chang Jung-koo has been named as one of the 13 inductees for the International Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2009. Chang will be the first South Korean to be named in the elite list of all time greats. The former junior flyweight champion known as the ‘Korean Hawk’ ended his career in 1991 with a 38-4 win-loss record with 17 KOs.

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Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand came short in securing a full card for next year’s LPGA Tour. The 19-year old golf sensation was making her second attempt for the elite tournament in the qualifying stage in Florida. Two other Thais Nontaya Srisawang and Virada Nirapathpongporn fail to make the cut as well.

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World number one-ranked Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia pulled out of the South East Asian Games in Laos. Less than three weeks ago, he committed to join the biennial games and his eleventh hour change of mind surprised the badminton camp in Laos.  Chong Wei cited his recurring knee injury as the reason for his withdrawal.

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Takashi Saito of Japan has agreed to sign a $3.2 million one year contract with the Atlanta Braves in the Major League Baseball (MLB).  The right-handed pitcher who turns 40 on February played for the Boston Red Sox last season. He made it to the National League All-Star back in 2007 while playing for the LA Dodgers.

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South Korean Park Chan-ho has been the subject of tug-of-war of six MLB teams in the free agent market.  The 36-year old pitcher native of Gongju was not offered salary arbitration by Philadelphia Phillies. He told local scribes that he would likely suit up for the team that gives him a starter role and can advance to the World Series.

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Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines has agreed in principle to a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13, 2010.  Pacquiao had a discussion with his promoter Bob Arum in Manila and the two came to terms though the specific details of the fight has yet to be ironed out. Among the issues that are yet to be discussed are the weight, the gloves and the economic aspects.

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Taiwan’s Chan Yih-shin hung tough for his lead midway in the ongoing King’s Cup at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club in Thailand. The 33-year old has been chased by at least six players including Harmeet Kahlon, Kim Dae-hyun and Rahil Gangjee for the prestigious title.

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Photo Courtesy:  Visitthailand.info

Regional powerhouse Thailand is set to show its force in sports once again in the upcoming South East Asian Games (SEA Games) in Vientiane, Laos. The regional event which kicks off this coming December 9 is considered the olympics of South East Asia. A total of 379 Gold medals are up for grabs in this event participated by 11 countries located at the said region.

In 2007 edition of the SEA games held at Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, the host country dominated by hauling down a total of 182 golds together with 123 silver and 101 bronze medals.  Thailand is expected to do the same in this year’s edition considering their performances the qualifying events. Besides, reports coming out from local media stated that the Thai government is joined by corporate sponsors in fully supporting the contingent. The countries that would likely give the Thais a run for their money are Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and emerging powerhouse Vietnam.

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WBC straw weight champion Oledong Sithsamerchai of Thailand is set to defend his title to Juan Palacios of Nicaragua on Friday, November 27 in Pathum Thani, Thailand.  It will be the first mandatory title defense for Sithsamerchai after defeating Eagle Den Junlaphan last November 2007. He vows to keep his record clean which now stands at 32-0-0 with 12 KOs.

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South Korea’s golf phenom Shin Ji-Yai came short of grabbing the LPGA Player of the Year Award after finishing eight in the recent LPGA Tour Championship in Texas. Shin Ji-Yai already clinched the Rookie of the Year award though. She has been on the spotlight for the past months for her superb performances that would have put her as the first golfer after Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards.

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South Korea national team manager Huh Jung-moo recently won the Asian Football Confederation’s Coach of the Year award in the annual awards in Kuala Lumpur.  Huh Jung-moo guided his team to qualify in the 2010 World Cup and once had a 27 game winning streak before bowing to Serbia in friendlies last November 18. He became to the fifth South Korean to receive such honor.

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Japan’s Yasuhito Endo was named Asian Football Confederation’s Player of the year at the annual awards ceremony in Kula Lumpur. Endo who also plays for local club Gamba Osaka beat fellow Japanese Kengo Nakamura, Firas Al Khatib of Syria and Hadi Aghily of Iran for the coveted plum.

Photo Courtesy: Facebook.com

Laos will host the 25^th South East Asian Games (SEA Games) this year.  It will be the first time that the country will host such event.  The event will be held this coming December 9-18, 2009.  Considered as the Olympics in South East Asia, SEA Games is held every two years exclusively participated by countries located in the said region.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be done at the capital city of Vientiane.  Due to constraints to finance the construction of  facilities, the number of sports disciplines will be reduced. Nonetheless, 2009 SEA Games will be exciting as ever as defending overall champions Thailand will be greatly challenged by other powerhouse countries which includes Malaysia and Vietnam.