Doctors fear June Mar Fajardo suffered partially torn ACL, out for PBA Finals and Olympic qualifiers

DOCTORS fear two-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo is out not only for the Philippine Cup Finals against Alaska but also Gilas Pilipinas' coming campaign in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July.

Sources from the San Miguel Corp. camp bared that an MRI scan done on Fajardo's left knee at the St. Luke's Hospital on Friday night revealed a partial tear on his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). 

“May partial tear eh. Kaya malabo na siya maglaro sa finals. Pati yung (Olympic) wildcard (qualifiers) damay," a source told Spin.ph. "Kasi hindi talaga siya makalakad.”

Fajardo's left knee has been put on an immobilizer, the source added, and the 6-10 national player can’t walk without the aid of crutches when he left the hospital early Saturday morning.

San Miguel has yet to make an official announcement at posting time.

The real extent of the damage - and the time Fajardo will have to sit out - will be known in a second check up with famed orthopedic surgeon Raul Canlas on Monday, the source added.

While Fajardo is almost certainly out of the PBA Finals, his stint with Gilas will largely depend on the nunber of fibers torn in the ACL - and the time it will take for him to recover.

“Hindi pa alam ng mga therapist kung ilang fiber ang napunit, 'yun ang aalamin ni Doc Canlas sa Monday,” said the source. “But definitely, malabo na siya sa finals kasi hindi talaga siya makalakad."

The injury happened at the 7:22 mark of the third quarter of Game Six, which saw a Fajardo-less San Miguel complete a 90-82 victory over Rain or Shine to clinch a place in the best-of-seven finals.

Here's the sequence:

In the sequence, Fajardo apparently hyperextended his left knee when he came into contact with the legs of Rain or Shine guard Jireh Ybanes, who tried to box him out in a rebound battle.

Former Red Bull Thunder team doctor John Lim shook his head upon hearing about the extent of Fajardo’s injury.

“Depende kasi sa damage 'yan at dami ng napunit na fiber. Pero hindi siya makakalaro kaagad definitely. Depende kasi sa gravity ng injury 'yan,” said Lim, who stressed that the ACL is the most sensitive part of an athlete’s knee.

“Normally kasi, pag partial tear at walang gaanong punit, three to six weeks 'yan. Mamamaga yan at sasakit pa ng matagal-tagal. Pag 50 percent ng fiber napunit, mga atleast two months 'yun. Full ACL tear kasi six months recovery and therapy yun,” he added.

Source: Snow Badua of Spin.ph

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Impressive Asian Tour finish moves Miguel Tabuena into qualifying places for Rio Olympics

PICTURE multiple major winners led by Jordan Spieth gunning for birdies and a gold medal on the same course as Miguel Tabuena.

If the Rio Games tournament teed off now, the world No. 1 Spieth and Philippine No. 1 Tabuena would be walking the same fairways on the controversial Reserva de Marapendi, competing for the first Olympic golf medals to be staked in 112 years.

Tabuena has risen to 210th in the world rankings and 48th on the Olympic eligibility list after ruling the Asian Tour’s season-ending Philippine Open.

Asian Tour veteran Angelo Que is also still in the running at 50th.

The Filipino golfers, however, still need to play well in tournaments offering world ranking points because the cutoff is still a few months away on July 11.

The Olympic field is limited to 60 players, including the top-15 world-ranked players with a limit of four players from a given country.

Tony Lascuna got into the list in the middle of last year but struggled in the latter part of the season and has slipped to 379th in the world.

That list of qualifiers now has American players Spieth, No. 4 Bubba Watson, sixth-ranked Rickie Fowler and No. 8 Dustin Johnson.

Jennifer Rosales has also stayed in the list for the women’s tournament, although she has slipped to 58th from 57th last year.

Source: Spin.ph

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Ulboc, fellow middle-distance runners leave for Perth training in bid to make Olympics

TRACKSTERS Christopher Ulboc, Edgardo Alejan, and Mervin Guarte will leave for Perth this month to embark on a three-month training in the first leg of their buildup for major international competitions, including the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“It’s a long range plan. If they fail to make it to the Olympics, they will be good for the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in 2017, the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018, and the SEA Games in Manila in 2019,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico.

The three Pinoy distance runners will undergo intensive training in the capital city of Western Australia as they seek to improve on their impressive showing from last year, specifically during the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.

In the athletics competitions of the SEA Games held in Singapore last year, Ulboc won the 3,000m steeplechase event while Guarte bagged a silver in the 800m dash and Alejan the 4x400m silver and a bronze in the 400m run.

Source: Reuben Terrado of Spin.ph

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EJ Obiena set to complete pole vault training in Poland, looks to qualify for Rio through Doha tilt

 Pole vaulter Ernest John ‘EJ’ Obiena spent the holidays training in Poland as he tries to make the qualifying standard for the Rio De Janeiro Olympics.

The 19-year-old Obiena set a new Philippine record of 5.45 meters in the local weekly relays last year and has been training under coach Vitaly Petrov in Poland.

“He has been there since December 19,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico.

Obiena won a silver medal in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games with a leap of 5.25 meters, and his record of 5.45 is.25 meters short of the Olympic standard of 5.7.

There are unconfirmed reports Obiena has cleared 5.6 meters in practice jumps.

The 6-foot-2 Obiena, son of former national pole vaulter Emerson Obiena, will return to the Philippines later this month to compete for University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 78 athletics competition before heading to Doha to compete in the Asian Indoor Championship in February.

“That will also be used as an Olympic qualifying so we hope that EJ will be able to get the Olympic standard,” said Juico.

Source: Reuben Terrado of Spin.ph

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