- 12/24/2023
CNN Philippines takes a look back at the year's biggest sports stories as 2023 comes to a close.
Join Andrei Felix and Pauline Verzosa on Sports Desk Rewind.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:07 Today on Sports Test Rewind, we revisit the top sports stories that made the headlines.
00:12 The Philippines taking center stage in the basketball world as the country hosts the FIBA World Cup again after 45 years.
00:20 And we revisit this milestone event with former Giles, Filipinas head coach, Chot Reyes.
00:26 Meanwhile, Giles is once again the kings of basketball in Asia after over six decades.
00:32 The men's national team captured the gold medal in the 19th Asian Games.
00:36 And we also put the spotlight on our athletes going above and beyond on the international stage.
00:43 It's time to go all out on the year's top sports stories. I'm Colleen Berzosa.
00:47 And I'm Andre Falix. And this is Sports Test Rewind.
00:51 [Music]
01:05 The Philippines becoming the epicenter of world basketball all eyes on our country as we host the FIBA World Cup again.
01:12 Fans, they're happy after 45 long years.
01:16 Three landmarks serve as the venue for the games. The Big Dome, the Smart Arena at the Coliseum in Quezon City,
01:24 the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, and the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
01:29 Well, Germany ultimately left Manila with the Naismith Trophy after stunning two-time World Cup champions Serbia in the final 83-77.
01:38 As for the Philippines, Giles, Filipinas led by former NBA 6 man of the year, Jordan Clarkson,
01:44 saved the best for last with a lopsided win over rival China 96-75.
01:50 The country finished with a record of one win and four losses in the World Cup.
01:55 Well, Coach Chot Reyes had the unenviable job of leading Giles, Filipinas in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
02:01 But the decorated mentor seemingly closed that chapter of his career when he said he was stepping aside as national team head coach after Giles' last game against China.
02:12 Well, Fowey, as the year comes to a close, we get to sit down with the one and only Coach Chot Reyes.
02:21 Welcome to the studios of CNN Philippines here on Sports Desk Rewind, our year-ender.
02:27 Maraming salamat, Coach. Thank you for being here.
02:29 My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Parang first time ko rito.
02:33 First time talaga. Thank you.
02:35 Magandang malam, ha? Makapagpunta. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
02:38 Coach, thank you so much. Alam kong busyng-busy. Of course, holiday season.
02:42 Coach, okay. Una sa lahat, bago ko tayo mag-hot questions.
02:47 How's the family? How's everybody doing? Good?
02:50 Good, good. Everyone's fine. My apos especially.
02:55 Kumadami na. Tatlo na.
02:56 Yup. Yan ang pinagkakaabalahan ko ngayon. The wife, kids, everything. I can't ask for more.
03:05 And yeah, pinag-usapan natin healthy. Fitspiration din si Coach.
03:09 Instagram.
03:10 Tingnan mo si Coach Chot. Kaya mo ba yan? Sabi ko hindi ko kaya yan.
03:13 Okay, Coach. Punta na tayo.
03:15 World Cup, you heard us talk about it. The Philippines being the epicenter.
03:19 We wanna get, sige, parang hindi ka pa yata na-interview, di ba? Parang hindi pa kita na-interview.
03:25 Kwentong mo sa'min. From the start, kasi we ended with only one win, di ba, against China.
03:32 Anong nangyari? Kwentong mo, Coach.
03:34 Well, it was, from the start, everyone knew it was gonna be a very difficult task, daman,
03:41 to get through the teams that were in our group.
03:45 We don't have to revisit that. You know, they're very strong teams. They're world-class, they're global teams.
03:52 Sayang because we put ourselves in a position to win. We competed.
03:58 Yeah.
03:59 I thought especially that first games against Dominican, that unfortunate incident of Jordan Clarkson fouling out.
04:09 Fouling out.
04:10 Yeah, that was, you know, the real turning point, I think, to the entire tournament.
04:16 But if you will really take a close look at it, things started to unravel even before because there's no secret.
04:24 All of the problems we had, daman, in the run-up, di ba, in the preparations, not getting enough time to get the players in practice,
04:33 getting the team up to speed and all the injuries that we had to deal with,
04:38 all part of preparing a team for a huge competition.
04:44 But, you know, what I would have given it to just have a complete team, fully prepared, going into that tournament, sayang.
04:53 Which I remember after that game against Italy, you said, "Maybe if we had more time."
04:57 Yeah.
04:58 If we had more time, maybe things would have been different.
05:01 Aside from the things you mentioned earlier, what other things would you have wanted to have done differently?
05:07 We put a really good program together. We really planned for it for a long time.
05:14 But there were a lot of things that happened beyond our control.
05:19 Number one, like I said, are the injuries. Not only to Scottie Thompson, to Roger Pogoy, to Justin Brownlee, even to Kai Soto.
05:32 So that was, I think, when I say if we really had, sana if we had more time, we had a lot of time actually to prepare.
05:43 Except, you know, that ideal preparation time was cut short because of everything that happened.
05:52 And coach, you know, after that game against China, I think everyone was surprised in that press room when you announced, nga na.
05:58 You were stepping aside as head coach. The room was quiet. If I can just paint a picture of all the journalists were around.
06:04 Coach Chot, he was giving his announcement. And it just came as a shock to a lot of people.
06:08 But it's no secret, of course, we also know it was very harsh for you, coach. Left and right, criticism, bashing. You said it was brutal.
06:15 But can you also just walk us through your thought process throughout the World Cup?
06:19 Kasi nag media blackout yun kayo coach na time na yun. You weren't really entertaining a lot of interviews, just the post-game press conferences.
06:28 But how hard was it?
06:30 Extremely, extremely hard. But like I said, I was locked off, so I was immune from all of that.
06:38 But of course, my family, my friends, everybody, the players, they were hearing and getting inundated by all of that.
06:47 So like I said, it was very, very difficult. But that's not the main reason why I decided to step down.
06:57 I stepped down because I wasn't able to deliver on what was expected of me. That's really it. Number one.
07:05 And number two, I've always said this, I didn't apply for this job in the first place. I was already happily retired before that.
07:16 And when the time comes to leave, for me, when I took on this job, it was completely just to serve.
07:30 And when it's time to leave, we all know, we know deep in our hearts when it's time to leave. So that time came.
07:38 You said, you used, this is it, Coach Chot Reyes is a very brilliant mind. And you used the word "step aside."
07:47 So question is future. Are you closing the doors permanently on being the head coach for the national team?
07:53 What if they ask you, "Probably not head coach, maybe in a different role, consultant, would you still be open to it?"
08:03 I've always said this in all my talks, in a lot of the speeches I give, that I may have retired from coaching the national team,
08:11 but I will never retire from serving my country. So in whatever manner, they need an extra ball boy or whatever,
08:19 in the future, I'm always never going to stop, I will never retire or stop helping the program, the country.
08:33 Because, you know, that's, like I said, this is all service for us.
08:39 Coach, do you have a question for Coach Chot?
08:41 I'm just excited to see Coach Chot back in TNT.
08:45 Oh, you'll be covered. I'm just excited because, of course, I've known you for a long time, I was in the same class as Josh in grade school.
08:54 So, Coach, thank you very much. I'm happy for you. Lolo, Farina, and growing family.
09:00 Proud Lolo.
09:01 Yes. Thank you again for being here, live in the studio, in CNN Philippines.
09:05 My pleasure.
09:06 SportsNest Rewind, our year-ender, thank you so much. Thank you.
09:09 Sure.
09:10 And happy holidays again. We just spoke to the one and only Coach Chot Reyes.
09:16 You're watching SportsNest Rewind, where we go all out on the top sports stories of 2023.
09:22 Victory after more than six decades for the Philippines as Giras Filipinas captures the gold in the 19th Asian Games.
09:30 And we celebrate the milestone of Filipino athletes in 2023.
09:35 These stories and more coming up after the break. Stay tuned only to SportsNest Rewind here on CNN Philippines.
10:03 Welcome back to SportsNest Rewind here on CNN Philippines.
10:07 Christmas came early for local basketball fans in the 19th Asian Games.
10:11 Giras Filipinas once again became the kings of basketball in Asia, in Hangzhou, China.
10:17 The men's national team beat Jordan in the thrilling finals 70-60, ending our 61-year gold medal drought in the Continental Showcase.
10:25 Justin Brownlee, reliable as always, leading Giras in that gold medal game with 20 points.
10:32 But Giras' stunning win over host country China became the highlight for this unlikely run.
10:38 The Philippines dethroned the then-champions in their home turf in a heart-stopping semifinal match 77-76.
10:46 But the celebration was cut short when the International Testing Agency announced that Brownlee failed a doping test.
10:54 The agency says he tested positive for a banned substance linked to cannabis or marijuana.
11:00 Brownlee's sample was collected during an in-competition anti-doping control performed on October 7, a day after Giras won the gold medal against Jordan.
11:11 Well, despite the ups and downs of Giras Filipinas in the 19th Asian Games, they still took home that gold medal, ending the country's 61-year gold medal drought in the A-Shad.
11:22 While this gold medal win is a feat both the players and the coaches will never forget, but for Giras' team manager in the Asian Games, Alfrancis Chua, who has won titles in the PBL and in the NCAA, it was one of the greatest victories of his career.
11:38 All the championships, all of them are special, right?
11:43 But, that's very special to me. Because it's China, too.
11:49 This championship, we won the gold, you can forget everything. You'll be really surprised.
11:56 Down by 20 points. Last two something minutes, down by 9. We won.
12:01 You'll be so proud because of the players. The four of us, Mr. Ricky Vargas, Bobby Rosales, and Willie Marcial and I, we'll be drinking, we'll laugh.
12:17 Because we talked about all our hardships, so that everything will be over.
12:20 While Coach Tim Kohn completes his redemption in the 19th Asian Games, after a heartbreaking campaign 25 years ago in 1998, the winningest coach in PBA history finally secured the elusive gold medal in the Continental meet.
12:36 In this interview, Coach Tim talks about Giras' tough path to Asian Games glory.
12:41 Well, I mean, obviously, this was done for a bigger purpose than anything we've done in the PBA.
12:47 In the PBA, we basically, you know, we do win for our fans, whether it be the Alaska, the Pure Foods, and especially the Inebra fans.
12:55 But, you know, this was for the country. And it makes it, you know, the stakes are so much more, the pressure is so much more.
13:04 I thought the fact that, you know, we didn't have a lot of prep time and, you know, we didn't get the lineup originally that we wanted, that kind of lowered the expectations for us and took some of the pressure off that we normally would have had.
13:23 And, you know, I think that, you know, once we got into the top four, you know, we weren't worried about, you know, up until the top, getting to the top four, beating Iran, it was more, there was so much fear of losing.
13:37 But once we got through into that top four, there was no fear of losing anymore.
13:44 Meanwhile, EJ Obiena was just relentless in his pursuit of greatness. In 2023, the Filipino Paul Valter finally achieved his goal of entering a sports-exclusive 6-meter club back in June.
13:55 And EJ just kept on soaring even higher. He became the second-best Paul Valter in the world back in July.
14:02 Obiena won gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games and booked his spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
14:09 But Obiena's prolific run hit a roadblock back in October after he was accused of doping on social media.
14:16 The wife of French gold medalist Renaud Labilny claimed in a Facebook post that Obiena used banned substances.
14:23 The Filipino Paul Valter has since proven his innocence after he took a lie detector test. He also accepted the apology of Anais Labilny.
14:32 Well, 2023 was indeed a successful year for Obiena's career, but now he has his eyes set to not only win gold, but redeem himself at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
14:44 Aside from being the stage for Obiena's hunt for the Philippines' second Olympic gold medal, the Paris Olympics is also the setting for the final chapter of Obiena's redemption story.
14:55 The 6'2" Paul Valter had a disappointing performance and finished only 11th in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
15:02 The failed campaign even made Obiena consider retirement, but he said he's confident that history will not repeat itself.
15:10 Learned how to say no big time. Learned how to focus on myself a little bit more and I understood what it takes to be at the top.
15:20 I think a little bit better than anyone else. Learned to do that and a little bit better physically, mentally, a little bit more older.
15:28 The test of time had made me a little bit stronger. I mean, that would be a shame if that happens.
15:34 I think it's a good thing I can look that scenario right in his eyes and say, "Okay, if it happens, it happens."
15:41 But I'm going to do everything that I can to not, and hopefully by that time, sitting here again with you and with a medal around my neck.
15:50 From the pole vault pit, let's go to the pitch. A groundbreaking run for the Filipinas in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
15:56 They may have faced elite competition in their debut, but the Filipinas justified the odds and proved they belong in the biggest stage of women's football.
16:04 Here's that moment that will be talked about for years and for decades to come.
16:09 The Golden Girl, Serena Bolden, with his beauty off a header against co-host country New Zealand for our first goal ever in the Women's World Cup.
16:18 The Filipinas wrapping up its campaign against world number 12 Norway, but that also met the end of the Alan Stajcic era.
16:26 The Australian mentor eventually went home to become the new head coach of Perth Glory FC in the A-League men.
16:32 Well, Serena Bolden's name will forever be etched in history books as the first Filipina goal scorer in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
16:40 Bolden says she hopes the Filipinas made and run on the biggest stage of women's football will inspire more people to support the team.
16:48 For me, it's definitely one word would be investment and not just financial investment.
16:59 Obviously, that's the big one. I know it took a lot of money to get to the point that we are right now, and we will continue to take even more money.
17:08 But it's not just about the finances or monetary, it's about investing your time into this team.
17:16 If you're a supporter, if you're a fan, if you're a player, if you're a staff, to invest your time, to continue it, to invest.
17:24 Just showing up your effort and just invest in any way that is possible, whatever that looks like to you, so that we continue to grow.
17:36 We continue to see this team do great things. We continue to have this team make history.
17:42 And we continue to make this country, the Philippines and Filipinos everywhere proud.
17:48 Now from the pitch, let's go back to the hard court as Barangay Dinebra superstar, Ale Tenorio makes an inspiring comeback in the PBA for battling stage three Colin Cansell.
18:00 That story and more when we return stage two of the SportsZest Rewind, only here on CNN Philippines. We'll be right back.
18:22 And we're back. Thank you for joining us here on SportsZest Rewind, only on CNN Philippines.
18:27 Ale Tenorio making a triumphant return to the hard court after fighting the biggest battle of his life.
18:33 La Teniente scored six points and had three assists in almost 26 minutes of playing time to help Barangay Dinebra win over the terra firma Jeep in his first game back in the PBA, the Commissioner's Cup, last December 3rd.
18:47 Tenorio made headlines earlier this year by disclosing his bout with stage three Colin Cansell.
18:53 Meanwhile in college hoops, the Delosal Green Archers are once again kings of basketball in UAP season 86.
19:00 The Green Archers completed a reverse sweep in game three of the finals, outlasting the Fighting Maroons in a pressure packed and highly physical contest 73 to 69.
19:10 Kevin Gambao led the Archers to the promised land scoring 24 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out nine assists in the grand finale.
19:19 Apart from winning the championship, KQ also bagged both the season and the finals MVP awards.
19:25 KQ also delighted legions of Lasal fans by saying he's running it back with the Green Archers in season 87.
19:33 Meanwhile, the San Benet Red Lions pulling off a Cinderella run in the NCAA season 99 by winning the men's basketball crown and taking over again as the Red Lions stood tall over the mighty Mapua Cardinals after winning game three.
19:46 After the finals, 76 to 66, leading the team is highly decorated head coach Yuri Escueta.
19:53 The player turned mentor has now won titles in college and in the professional level.
19:58 Escueta says his victory with San Benet is one of the best championship runs of his career.
20:03 From the hard court, let's head over to tennis, a level up for Alex Ayala in the WTA rankings.
20:09 The 18 year old tennis ace climbed to the 189th spot from 190th.
20:14 She also improved her year end ranking to 205 from 219 last year.
20:19 2023 has been a great year for Ayala winning two International Tennis Federation events in Spain and in Great Britain.
20:27 Ayala also won two bronze medals for her Asian Games debut this year in Hangzhou, China.
20:33 Shifting gears now to motorsports, Bianca Bustamante is on the right track in her race to the top.
20:38 The teenage racer made her story back in herstory back in October as the first female to join McLaren's F1 driver development program.
20:47 Bustamante finished seventh in the F1 Academy season with Italian team Preno Racing.
20:51 She will race for McLaren under the banner of ARC Grand Prix in the 2024 F1 Academy season.
20:58 And now let's revisit some of the biggest international sports stories in 2023.
21:04 The Denver Nuggets defeating the Miami Heat in five games to win their first ever NBA championship.
21:13 Over 39,000 career points and counting, LeBron James is now the NBA's all-time leading scorer surpassing the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February.
21:25 King James also guided the Los Angeles Lakers against the Indiana Pacers to become the league's inaugural in-season tournament champions.
21:33 Meanwhile in tennis, Carlos Alcaraz spoils Novak Djokovic's attempt to complete a calendar grand slam by winning his first Wimbledon title.
21:43 And in Major League Baseball, Japanese sensation Shohei Otani joins the Los Angeles Dodgers after signing a historic 10-year deal worth $700 million.
21:54 And just like that we finished tackling almost everything that happened in sports in the year 2023.
22:02 Less than 30 minutes and that's it for us. We've reached the finish line for this year.
22:07 But don't worry, we will continue to go all out for the Daystop Sports Stories in 2024.
22:13 You're right Andre, a big year and exciting year ahead for all Filipino athletes.
22:17 And you can catch all those stories right here on Sports Desk weeknights live at 8.30pm and Sports Desk weekend Saturdays at 11am and Sundays at 9.30am.
22:27 2024 named Paris.
22:29 My name is Andre Felix.
22:33 And I'm Pauline Berzosa.
22:35 And thank you for watching Sports Desk Rewind only here on CNN Philippines.
22:40 Stay safe and we'll see you next year.
22:42 [Music]
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