Jazz thumps Heat in OT

MIAMI (3rd UPDATE) - Paul Millsap scored a career-high 46 points, including a rebound basket to force over-time, and the Utah Jazz edged Miami 116-114 on Tuesday despite stellar showings from Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.

The Jazz rallied from a 22-point deficit and pulled level at 104-104 on Millsap's basket at the final buzzer of the fourth quarter. Utah claimed the victory on two free throws by Francisco Elson with 0.4 of a second remaining.

"It's speechless, to be down like that to a team like this and to come out with a win," Millsap said. "We clawed our way out of it. But this says a lot about our team."

Wade scored 39 points and James produced his 29th career triple double - double-digit totals in three categories - with 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, but the Heat still suffered their first home loss of the season.

"I think we panicked a little bit as a group," Wade said.

James produced the first triple-double for the Heat since Shaquille O'Neal in 2006 and his seventh in a losing cause, a defeat he credited in large part to the skills of Utah's Jerry Sloan, the longest-tenured active NBA coach.

"Jerry Sloan is one of the best coaches we have in our league," James said. "He kind of figured out what we wanted to do."

The Heat, 5-3, missed five shots in the last two minutes of over-time to equalize or seize the lead, the last by Eddie House at the concluding buzzer.

Utah's Deron Williams scored 21 points and added 14 assists while Andrei Kirilenko contributed 16 points for the Jazz, who had lost their six prior games at Miami.

"At some point in the year, unfortunately, we have to go through something like this," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Chris Bosh added 17 points for the Heat and lamented his team's inability to shut down the Jazz at the start of the second half.

"We came out flat in the third quarter," Bosh said. "We didn't have the sense of urgency that we needed. We had a chance to put them away and we didn't."

Only seven other players have scored as much as Millsap did in one game against the Heat, a list that includes James, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Alex English and Gilbert Arenas.

"He got easy buckets, a lot of easy buckets," Bosh said of Millsap. "I had never seen him hit a three before."

Kirilenko's 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining in over-time gave the Jazz, now 4-3, a 112-111 edge but the Heat pulled level at 114-114 on a Wade 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining.

Elson was fouled by Wade near the basket on the final Jazz possession and Elson made the winning free throws inside the final half-second.

Millsap had averaged 6.9 points in eight prior games against Miami, but beat the Heat by sparking Utah to 42 points in the fourth quarter with 11 of his own in the last 28 seconds, including two 3-pointers in the final 12.1 seconds.

"The man was on fire," said Wade, who connected on only 12 of his 23 shots.

"I guess when it rains, it pours," Millsap said.

The Heat ran off 15 consecutive points at one stretch in the first quarter on the way to a 51-32 half-time lead.

Pacquiao begins last training leg in Texas

MANILA, Philippines – Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao kicked off his last training leg in Texas, where he will face Mexican Antonio Margarito on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight belt.

Filipinos, Mexicans and Americans watched the 7-division world champion train at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center in Dallas.

Prior to his public workout, the pugilist-turned-congressman jogged in the morning.

His trainers said they want Pacquiao to take it easy during his training.

The reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion, however, still exerted effort as he did numerous footworks.

According to Pacquiao, he wants to maintain his speed because he believes that it would be the key to his victory.

“Tijuana Tornado” Margarito, meantime, arrived in Texas earlier than Pacquiao.

He said that his clash with Pacquiao, dubbed as “The Event,” is the biggest fight of his career.

He added that he will do everything that Pacquiao’s previous opponents were unable to do.

Pacquiao and Margarito will face off at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Federer leads seeds into Paris Tennis Masters 3rd round

PARIS – Top seed Roger Federer, defending champion Novak Djokovic and third seed Andy Murray all hit form on the super-quick courts at the Bercy arena to reach the Paris Masters third round on Wednesday.

Federer breezed past home favourite Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 and Djokovic comfortably defeated Argentina's Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-3, but Murray had to battle back from a set down to overcome former champion David Nalbandian.

Federer, who received a first-round bye, served imperiously against Gasquet and secured the decisive break of serve in the third game of the first set with a typically deft forehand drop volley.

He broke his opponent in the opening game of the second set and went on to close out victory in a leisurely 68 minutes, teeing him up for a showdown against unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek for a place in the last eight.

"It's always dangerous playing Richard here," said Federer, who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the event.

"Apart from a couple of games, there wasn't much between us.

"I've had injuries and problems with tiredness here before, and I hope I can change that this week."

Second seed Djokovic fought back from an early break in the first set against Monaco and then saw off break points in his opening two service games of the second before completing a routine win.

"He was taking the balls early and being aggressive, and he was the better player at the start of the match," said Djokovic, who lost to Federer in the Basel final on Sunday.

"I was lucky to get the break. When I did that I regained confidence and control of the match, and felt better on the court."

Djokovic, defending the title he won against Gael Monfils last year, will face Michael Llodra in the third round after the Frenchman upset American 16th seed John Isner 6-3, 6-4.

Murray never got going in the first set against Nalbandian, who won 88 percent of the points on his first serve to take the set 6-2.

The Scot raised his game in the second set, however, and required just one break point opportunity to level the tie, with Nalbandian putting a forehand beyond the baseline at set point.

Nalbandian has a fine record at the Bercy arena, having won the event in 2007 and lost in the final in 2008, before missing last year's tournament following hip surgery, but he blinked first in the deciding set.

Murray needed treatment on a wrist injury at 2-2 but he took a 5-3 lead when the Argentine sent a forehand long and then calmly served out for a hard-earned 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

"I struggled at the start," admitted Murray.

"He didn't miss the ball for a set and a half. I haven't played on such a quick court since I've been on the tour.

"But I changed the tension in my racquets by four or five pounds and I felt much more comfortable at the end of the second set."

Murray's next opponent will be Croatian 13th seed Marin Cilic, who came through 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 against Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Swedish fourth seed Robin Soderling completed the third round line-up late on Wednesday when he eased past France's Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-0.

Earlier, Spain's David Ferrer, the seventh seed, overcame a first-set wobble to beat Italian Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

Eighth seed Andy Roddick swept into the third round with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, while Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko -- the 2006 champion -- beat Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-0.

Cilic's countryman Ivan Ljubicic, the number 15 seed, became the third seed to exit the tournament when he fell 6-4, 6-4 to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

BI: Illegal wokers hide visas in their panties

MANILA, Philippines - Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) stumbled upon a new modus operandi of human traffickers with the recent arrest of 3 prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who concealed their travel documents in their underwear in an attempt to hide their true destinations.

Bureau of Immigration Officer-In-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma said the 3 female “tourist workers” were intercepted at the NAIA last October 25 as they were about to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Singapore.
The 3 were queuing for clearance at the NAIA immigration counter when they were invited for questioning by members of the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU).

Lawyer Arvin Santos, BI airport operations division chief, said the women, who pretended to be tourists, started panicking while being questioned. “They pulled out their visas and plane tickets from their underwear after we managed to bluff them into revealing their final destinations,” Santos said.

The hidden travel documents showed that from Singapore, the passengers have connecting flights to Beirut and Dubai. From there, the women would then go to Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. The government bans the deployment of female workers to Lebanon.

“It appears that the illegal recruiters and human trafficking syndicates are using all tricks so their victims can avoid detection by immigration officers,” Ledesma said.

He said the new modus operandi is a sign of desperation on the part of the syndicates whose operations are reportedly severely crippled by the BI’s intensified drive against human trafficking.

Immigration officers at the NAIA and other airports have offloaded thousands of departing “tourist workers” since August when the government, through the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), launched its aggressive anti-human trafficking drive.

The IACAT is headed by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, who is also the undersecretary in charge of the Bureau of Immigration.

Advisory on Saudi's 'no smoking policy' in airports

SAUDI ARABIA – A Filipino migrant group urged the Philippine posts detailed in Saudi Arabia to issue an advisory regarding the “no smoking policy” in prohibited areas in domestic and international airports in the kingdom.

“We are urging the concerned Philippine posts officials to issue an advisory so that the Filipino community and the various Filipino organizations will be informed of this latest airport authority's policy of 'no smoking' in prohibited areas,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

Monterona said anti-smoking signages are expected to be displayed in the coming days in the kingdom’s 27 domestic and international airports.

The smoking ban, which covers travelers as well as airport and immigration employees, is reportedly aimed at protecting the smoker’s health and reduce harm caused by second-hand smoke.

Monterona said smoking in airports is not totally prohibited. There are actually designated smoking areas in the terminals.

Sixteen smokers have been nabbed so far at the Jeddah International Airport during the first day of its implementation. The violators were fined 200 Saudi Riyals.

The Migrante leader said an advisory is necessary to caution arriving Pinoy migrant workers and those who will be departing for the Philippines next month.

Juvic Pagunsan leads Mercedes-Benz Masters Indonesia

JAKARTA - Juvic Pagunsan put himself in the perfect position to claim the 80,000 dollar Mercedes-Benz Masters Indonesia after taking the third round lead on a day of high drama.

The Filipino enters the final round with a two shot lead over compatriot Antonio Lascuna, Malaysian Nicholas Fung and Namchok Tantipokhakul from Thailand.

Pagunsan fired a four-under-par 68 at the Emeralda Golf and Country Club for a tournament total of 13-under-par 203.

It was another impressive round by the talented 32-year-old but was somewhat overshadowed by a two shot penalty handed to playing partner Fung for tapping down a spike mark on the 17th.

The pair had both birdied the par-five 17th with similar putts from 10 feet and later finished tied for the lead.

However, Pagunsan pointed out to Fung that he had touched his line with his putter and after careful discussion with officials the Malaysian's four was changed to a six.

"It is a pity that happened but it is still wide open with everything to play for. I am playing really well and came here to win the Merit list," said Pagunsan.

"The Mercedes-Benz Tour is really growing and one day will be really big and I so it would be great to say that I finished as the top ranked player."

Pagunsan, who won the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand by seven shots in June, started the day two behind leader Lascuna and took the lead with a round made up of seven birdies and three bogeys.

He leads the tour Order of Merit list with earnings of 22,450 dollars with Fung in third place just 1,000 dollars behind.

Fung, who signed for 70 as opposed to a 68 after the penalty, said: "It is disappointing what happened. I honestly cannot remember touching the line and if I did it was not intentional. It certainly makes me determined to play well tomorrow."

The 20-year-old rookie claimed the Mercedes-Benz Masters Vietnam earlier this month for his maiden win as a professional.

Leading third round scores (Par 72):

203 -Juvic Pagunsan (PHI) 64 71 68
205 - Namchok Tantipokakul (THA) 68 69 68
Nicholas Fung (MAS) 69 66 70
Antonio Lascuna (PHI) 68 65 72
206 - Mohd Sukree Othman (MAS) 69 70 67
Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA) 69 70 67 207
Wisut Artjanawat (THA) 68 70 69
209 - Artemio Murakami (PHI) 68 73 68
210 - Ferdie Aunzo (PHI) 69 73 68
Mohd Rashid Ismail (MAS) 74 67 69
Passamet Pogamnerd (THA) 70 69 71
211 - Mars Pucay (PHI) 72 71 68
Pawin Ingkhapradit (Am) (THA) 69 73 69
213 - Gene Bondoc (PHI) 73 72 68
Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 74 70 69
214 - Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (THA) 74 71 69
215 - Rey Pagunsan (PHI) 73 74 68
Anthony Fernando (PHI) 76 67 72
216 - Pravee Visalkit (THA) 72 73 71
Lam Zhiqun (Am) (SIN) 74 69 73

Austria's Ouschan wins Women's World 10-Ball title

Austria's Jasmin Ouschan holds her trophy after winning the 2010 Yalin Women's World 10-Ball crown.

MANILA, Philippines – Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan became the second woman to win the Women's World 10-Ball title by beating Ga Young Kim of Korea, 10-6, in the tournament finals at the Robinsons Galleria.

The billiard beauty from Europe battled her way out of a 3-rack deficit after gaining confidence against Kim midway the Race-to-10 finals.

“I can’t believe it, I’m so happy. I’m waiting for this for so long. I’ve been close [to winning] for so many times,” said an ecstatic Ouschan.

The Austrian thanked the spectators, mostly Filipinos, for supporting her campaign in the Yalin Women's World 10-Ball.

“To win here in the billiard capital of the world, in front of my favorite fans, it is the best way to win a championship,” she said.

Ouschan bucked a slow start against her Korean foe, who scored 3 straight racks for a quick 3-0 lead.

But Ouschan’s cue stick caught fire in the 4th rack, digging out the Austrian player from the deficit to tie the game at 4-all.

Ouschan continued to take advantage of Kim’s inconsistencies on the table as she extended her lead to 7-4.

The Korean bounced back in the 12th rack to trim the lead to 7-5 but Ouschan fought back to win the next frame, 8-5

RP's Rubilen Amit (right) with fellow semifinalist Kelly Fisher.

After Kim’s wins in rack number 14, the Austrian brought herself closer to the title, 9-6.

Ouschan won the battle of the nerves in the 16th rack to take away the title and the $20,000 prize.

Amit fails to reach finals

Erstwhile champion Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit of the Philippines fell short in efforts to retain her title after yielding to Kim in the semifinals, 9-5.

Kim jumped the gun on the Mandaue City native by zooming to a 6-1 commanding lead in their Race-to-9 affair.

Amit won 3 straight racks to cut the lead to 4-6 but Kim pushed her lead to 8-5 in the 13th frame.

Amit’s bad preparation in the following rack allowed Kim to run the table and win her ticket to the finals.

Ouschan, meanwhile, disposed of Ireland’s Kelly Fisher to forge a championship duel with Kim.

Both Amit and Fisher received $5,000 each for reaching the semifinal round.

Kim, meanwhile, took home $9,000 for finishing second place.

Video of Pinay nurse in ventilator blooper goes viral

MANILA, Philippines – The video showing a Filipina nurse who accidentally switched off the ventilator of her tetraplegic patient in the United Kingdom is going viral on YouTube.

The United Kingdom Nursing and Midwifery Council suspended nurse Violetta Aylward’s license.

Aylward’s patient, Jamie Merrett, suffered brain damage due to the incident. (Related story: Nurse in 'ventilator accident' a Pinay)

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) is concerned over the possible effects the incident and the circulating video may have on Filipino nurses working in the UK.

“This is negative for us. However, like in any other profession, or nationality, there are good practitioners and not so good practitioners,” said PNA President Dr. Teresita Barcelo.

Barcelo was also shocked to learn that Aylward had no training in handling patients with ventilators.

“An RN or registered nurse would know how to handle a patient with a respirator unless she’s been out of practice for awhile,” she said.

The doctor hopes that the incident will not affect the hiring of Filipino nurses to the UK.

“I hope people would think that one not so good example cannot be representative of everybody. Filipino nurses, in general, are competent nurses,” she said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it attempted to reach out to Aylward but she allegedly refused to talk to them or the media.

Jobless OFW in Saudi wants to come home

DAMMAN, Saudi Arabia – A Filipino migrant worker in Damman has been relying on his friends for food and shelter.

"Binibigyan nila ako para makakain man lang. Pero sa pamilya ko, hindi na ako nakapagpadala ng pera,” said Aladino Rebalde.

Rebalde had been a car electrician for more than 20 years. However, he was not lucky in the past four years.

Rebalde ran away from his employer because he was not being paid right. In 2008, the OFW was arrested and detained for 2 weeks in Riyadh.

The Philippine embassy helped him settle his case but he no longer has a job to return to because the shop had closed and his employer abandoned him.

Since then, he has been wandering and looking for extra income for himself and his family back in the Philippines.

Without a job and money to send back home, the education of his 3 children suffered. They were forced to stop going school.

“May anim na taon pa akong anak na hindi din makakapasok dahil syempre, alam mo naman ang kahirapan sa Pilipinas. Ako naman dito, walang naibibigay na sapat sa kanila dahil pahinto-hinto at palipat-lipat,” said Rebalde.

Rebalde wants nothing more than to go back home to his family. “Ilang taon ako ritong hindi nakikita ang mga anak ko, pamilya ko,” he said.

He appealed to the government to help him reunite with his family.

“Humihingi ako kay Vice President (Jejomar) Binay, Sir, tulungan ninyo naman po ako,” he appealed

Missing Pinay OFW found dead on roof of exhibit hall

KUWAIT – The decomposing body of a missing Filipina salon worker in Kuwait was retrieved from the roof of an exhibition hall in Mishref, Balitang Middle East reported.

Jenny Dechosa was identified through her fingerprint. Her body was found on the roof of the Kuwait International Fair Grounds in Mishref on October 16.

According to Dechosa’s housemates, they last saw the 33-year-old Cebu native on October 10.

“Huling araw na nakita namin si Jenny on October 10 ng umaga. Nandito pa siya sa flat namin. So around 5 to 6 yun na yung time na lumabas siya dahil pupunta daw siya sa Mishref para mag-part time. Kinabukasan yung kanyang room mate na si Mercy nagsabi sa amin na hindi pa umuuwi si Jenny," said housemate, Gina Montalban.

Dechosa’s housemates decided to inform her Kuwaiti sponsor that she failed to come home.

Five days later, they saw in the news that authorities recovered a decomposing body of an Asian woman.

“Nagkaroon kami ng pagiipon sa isang kwarto. Iba-ibang opinyon, iba-iba ang sinasabi na baka nga iyun, o baka hindi," said Montalban.

Dechoso’s Kuwaiti sponsor informed them a week after she went missing that the body discovered in Mishref was that of the missing OFW.

"Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na talagang si Jenny yun,” said Gina Ponce.

Egyptian confesses to the crime

Meanwhile, an online report by the Arab Times stated that an Egyptian caretaker of the exhibition hall in Mishref was arrested for Dechoso’s murder.

Authorities found the suspect based on the victim’s mobile phone records.

The report also stated that the unidentified Egyptian admitted killing the OFW.