NAKHON RATCHASIMA— Malaysia would hardly matter but just the same, the Philippine men’s basketball team is not taking any chances.

                “Ang Malaysia kasi puro mga bata pa at tsaka structured ’yung kilos and plays nila so madali silang mapag-aralan,” said head coach Junel Baculi.

                The men take on the Malaysians at 5 p.m. Wednesday, hoping to nail a third straight win that would set them up for a title sweep of the event that matters most to Filipinos.

                The women are also facing the Malaysians but are hard-pressed to prevail in the 1 p.m. encounter, also at the Suranaree University of Technology. The lady cagers hope to bounce back from a 70-54 loss to the Thais last Sunday.

                What’s in the mind of the men, including Dr. Mikee Romero, whose Harbour Centre is fully backing the team, is an emphatic sweep.

                “It doesn’t mean we’ll be taking the Malaysians lightly. We want to win the gold in the best possible way, by sweeping all of our games here,” said Baculi.

                The Malaysians are a young team and are predictable, according to Baculi, thus, another rout—after the 136-82 over Cambodia and the 75-49 over Indonesia—is in the offing for the team.

                “We can never be complacent,” stressed Baculi, whose wards close out their campaign against the Thais Thursday.

                If a team sweeps its games, it wins the gold medal outright. In case of a tie, the winner over the other rule would be enforced.

                 The Malaysians, like the Indonesians, remain in the hunt for the gold medal despite their 2-1 win-loss records. The Malaysians drubbed Cambodia on Monday, 103-72, the same day the Indons edged Thailand, 67-65.

Victory Ride    

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—Save for the coaching staff and the rest of Team Cycling Philippines, no one saw it coming, officials of the Philippine delegation included.

Whether taekwondo still RP bailiwick to be known as jin action begins today

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—It’s the turn of the taekwondo jins to shoot for golds Wednesday and eyes are on Marie Antoinette Rivero who is eyeing a third straight mint in these 24th edition of the Southeast Asian Games.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA— Malaysia would hardly matter but just the same, the Philippine men’s basketball team is not taking any chances.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—The Filipino paddlers are living up to expectations and are competing as favorites for the gold medal in dragon boat’s (traditional boat race) men’s 1,000 meters Tuesday.

SEAG Secretariat head Mundo trip to Kuwait with PSC blessing

Philippine Sports Commissioner Joey Mundo should attend to his responsibilities as head of Team Philippines Secretariat but instead he is in Kuwait on an “unspecified” official trip.

Lady golfers ahead; men fall to fourth

Mark Fernando rebounded from a lackluster first round but all others failed to produce the needed numbers that forced defending champion Philippines to skid down to fourth place and trail host Thailand by seven strokes halfway through the men’s golf competition in the SEA Games on Tuesday.

Work out with Manny, receive $1,000

MANNY Pacquiao better be ready once he starts his sparring sessions in preparation for his next fight.

In an interview with Sports Radio yesterday morning, American trainer Freddie Roach said he is now on the look out for a few but quality sparring partners for his prized ward.

Greenside Chip: Did Southwoods make the wrong call?      

FOR the fourth straight year, Manila Southwoods had a disappointing windup in another runner-up honor in the Fil championship division of the recent 58th edition of the Fil-Am Golf Invitational played in Baguio City. But despite the piling up of second-place finishes, the Cavite-based squad still created more noise than the overall champion Club Marinduque.