France captain Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty but curled in a superb goal on the hour as France struck twice in six minutes to brush aside Morocco, 2-0, and book their spot in the World Cup semifinals. Mbappe, who at 27 became the youngest player to rack up 20 World Cup appearances, also bagged his …
SPORTS
Arcigal clinches gold at nat’l taekwondo championships
By ADRIAN STEWART CO Negrense Samantha Gail Arcigal delivered a standout performance after winning the Cadet Female Black Belt Division of the 2026 Smart MVP Sports Foundation National Taekwondo Championships held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Arcigal emerged on top of her division to secure the national title, giving the Negros Taekwondo Union (NTU) Tigers …
Pons, Rondina to be awarded at AVC Gala
By ADRIAN STEWART CO Negrense Bernadeth Pons and Cherry Rondina of the Alas Pilipinas beach volleyball team are to be honored with the Fans’ Choice Beach Volleyball Award during the inaugural Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Gala after emerging as the top vote-getters in the public poll. Rondina and Pons collected 43,905 fan votes to claim …
Gumabao scores 18 as Creamline flexes depth in win vs. Nxled
Michele Gumabao showed the way as the Creamline Cool Smashers blasted the Nxled Chameleons in four sets, 25-18, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19, in the 2026 PVL on Tour Showdown on Wednesday, July 8, at The Capital Arena in Ilagan, Isabela. Playing without key cogs, Gumabao was at the forefront of the Creamline offense, tallying 18 points …
Charlie Cojuangco Memorial Cup slated in Pontevedra
By ADRIAN STEWART CO The Charlie Cojuangco Memorial Cup has officially opened the registration for its 2026 edition, inviting football clubs, academies and teams from across the region to compete in a two-day grassroots tournament in Negros Occidental. The annual eight-a-side football festival will be held on September 12 and 13 at the Pontevedra Oval …
Expanded World Cup, same old story as Europe dominates QF
The expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams has offered more of a chance to continents that were previously underrepresented at the tournament, but a glance at the quarterfinal lineup tells a familiar tale. Six of the countries in the last eight are European, with the exceptions being Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the reigning champions, …
Eala vows to keep improving after loss
By ADRIAN STEWART CO Negrense Alex Eala acknowledged Jasmine Paolini’s aggressive play while promising to continue improving after falling in a hard-fought fourth-round match at Wimbledon. Eala’s historic campaign came to an end with a 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 loss to the 13th seed Italian on Centre Court, but the Filipina remained encouraged by how she …
NORFA finalizes plans for futsal league
By ADRIAN STEWART CO Preparations for the 2026 Negros Occidental Regional Football Association (NORFA) Futsal League moved into their final stage after the sports group held a coordination meeting with team coaches and managers at Nature’s Village Resort in Negros Occidental’s Talisay City. The meeting was led by NORFA President Jose Miguel Valmayor and Vice …
Messi inspires Argentina in late comeback to see off Egypt
Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to a remarkable World Cup comeback as they came from two goals down to beat Egypt, 3-2, in a dramatic last-16 game. The holders were 11 minutes from a shock defeat trailing 2-0, but goals from Cristian Romero, Messi and the winner two minutes into stoppage time from Enzo Fernandez kept …
Cavs agree on Mitchell deal as LeBron watches: report
Donovan Mitchell has agreed to a maximum four-year NBA contract extension worth $273 million with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his agent said, a move that could help bring back LeBron James. Austin Brown told ESPN that Mitchell could have waited until next year and added another year and $80 million to his deal but wanted to …