INQUIRER Sports

SINGAPORE? Off-target the first two days, the Philippines showed signs of life at the 1st Asian Youth Games.

Victories in the boys? and girls? Fiba 3-on-3 basketball brightened up what started as a bleak RP campaign marred by setbacks in bowling, shooting, beach volley and diving.

Swimming also became a source of inspiration for the RP delegation of 62 athletes 14 to 17 years old after Dorothy Grace Hong barged into the finals of the girls? 100-meter backstroke and Jose Joaquin Gonzales made it to the semifinals of the same event for boys.

Cris Michael Tolomia pumped in 12 points and combined with Jeofrey Javillonar and Jeron Alvin Teng to lead the Philippines to a convincing 34-26 victory over Japan in Group C and a quarterfinal date with either United Arab Emirates or Thailand from Group A.

In the distaff side, Jonah Mari Melendres, Danica Therese Jose and Trisha Anne Piatos notched a second consecutive victory after downing an Uzbekistan trio by default.

Two Uzbekistan players fouled out with 30 seconds left and the Uzbeks ahead, 28-26, prompting basketball organizers to stop the game in favor of the Philippines.

Hong, a multiple gold-medal winner in the Palarong Pambansa, clocked one minute and 7.37 seconds for fifth place in her heat won by Hong Kong?s Claudia Lau (1:05.93), while Gonzales checked in fourth in his qualifying heat (1:01.62) to move into the semifinals.

Powerhouse China was well on the way to ruling the week-long meet, a prelude to the 2010 Youth Olympics also scheduled here and featuring entries from 43 nations.

With eight golds so far, China is expected to boost its golden collection with seven finals up in swimming, 12 in athletics and one in shooting today.

Natasha Nalus settled for fourth place in the 3m springboard diving competition for girls Wednesday.

The 15-year-old Nalus from St. Paul Pasig wound up with 281.75 points after five dives in the event ruled by Korea?s Nami Kim (357.20 points). Sio Lei of Macau (350.45) and China?s Tian Liu (342.15) bagged the silver and bronze, respectively.

In bowling, Lingling De Guzman and Madeline Llamas wound up eighth in the girls? doubles after compiling a combined pinfall of 2318.

Singapore?s Krishna Darshini and Hui Fen New, who had a total of 2680 pinfalls, captured the gold while Thailand (2579) and Korea (2504) settled for the silver and bronze.