Standout Filipino college basketball player Ricci Rivero said he wants to start his professional career by playing in the P.League+ as opposed to other leagues in Asia because of the sizeable Philippine community in Taiwan, his new team the Taoyuan Pilots said on Monday.
“There are nearly 150,000 Filipinos living and working in Taiwan, the mere thought of playing in front of them and being the first to represent them in one of Taiwan’s best basketball leagues is already a big motivation for me to choose Taiwan over other Asian basketball leagues,” Rivero said in a Taoyuan Pilots statement.
Although adjusting to leaving his home country could be difficult, Rivero believes the support of Filipinos in Taiwan will help, the statement said.
Screengrab from Ricci Rivero’s Facebook
“I do not make promises, but I’ll work hard. Starting my professional career in Taiwan comes with a lot of pressure, responsibility and maturity, but the decision to live [here] comes with no regrets, because I know it will help me become better,” Rivero said.
Philippine sports management agency Virtual Playground on June 24 confirmed that Rivero would be suiting up for the Pilots by showing him wearing a Pilots jersey with the caption “Ricci Rivero to Taiwan.”
Since then, Rivero has generated headlines across the Philippines and Taiwan as the first-ever import player from Southeast Asia in the world.
“I am deeply honored. The trust given by the Pilots to have me on their team as the very first Asian to become a world import in the P.League+ is also a sign of their confidence in the basketball program of the Philippines. I am excited to work hard and contribute the best way I can,” Rivero said.
Rivero played in Taiwan in 2017, when he was part of the Philippine De La Salle University basketball team who played in the Buddha’s Light International Association Cup, earning praise as one of the best players in the tournament.
“Back in 2017, the overwhelming acceptance of both Taiwanese and Filipinos was a memorable one. I hope I can live up to the expectation this time,” Rivero said.
Rivero is expected to arrive in Taiwan in October, the Pilots said.
He is the only University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball player to have won championships with two different schools.
Rivero won his first championship in 2016 during his rookie season at De La Salle University.
He then helped the University of the Philippines clinch its first championship since 1986 in May, averaging 14.67 points, 1.33 assists, 3.33 steals, and 1.0 blocks in the finals.
Not even a tense tete-a-tete in the gold-medal game on Friday could spoil the vibe at Paris’ biggest beach party. Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Brazil’s Ana Patricia got into a shouting match on either side of the net in the tiebreaking third set of the beach volleyball final of the Paris Olympics. The referee tried to keep the peace, but it was the Eiffel Tower Stadium DJ who cooled tempers on the sand by playing John Lennon’s Imagine over the PA system. The players laughed and clapped, the crowd applauded and sang along, Wilkerson was shown a yellow card and the top-ranked Brazilians
China yesterday celebrated one of its best Olympic performances, while some supporters declared China the true winners, if medals won by Hong Kong and self-ruled Taiwan were included. “We are number one out of sovereign countries,” read one comment with more than 1,300 likes on Sina Weibo. Many similar posts included images of an adjusted medal table with medals won by Hong Kong and Taiwan added to the Chinese total. Since Taiwan’s Olympic debut in 1956, its athletes have competed as “Formosa,” “Taiwan,” “the Republic of China,” and since 1984 as “Chinese Taipei.” Hong Kong competes separately from China. Team China racked up 40 gold
PARIS SCOREBOARD: With Lin Yu-ting guaranteed to win a medal, Taiwan has secured at least seven medals in Paris, its second-most after the 12 it won in Tokyo Taiwan boosted its medal total at the Paris Olympics to one gold and five bronzes on Thursday after weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun’s third-place finish in the women’s 59kg weight class, but it was shut out in taekwondo. Kuo, who won gold in Tokyo Games, took the bronze medal in her weight division with a total lift of 235kg, 1kg behind silver medalist Maude Charron of Canada. China’s Luo Shifang was crowned champion with a new Olympic record total lift of 241kg. She also set a new Olympic record in her third attempt at the snatch by lifting 107kg. Entering her last lift in the
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo was the toast of Africa after winning the Olympic 200m gold on Thursday, but his immediate thoughts were much closer to home, as he dedicated his victory to his mother who died in May. Tebogo became the first African to win the event when he ran 19.46 seconds to beat the US’ Kenny Bednarek and a COVID-19-hit Noah Lyles to claim Botswana’s first Olympic gold medal and become the fifth-fastest man in history over the half-lap. He did it wearing spikes bearing his mother’s date of birth. “It’s basically me carrying her through every stride that I take,” Tebego told