The Philippine Online Chronicles

Andy Murray of Great Britain has reached final round of the 2011 Shanghai Masters after a smashing, 6-3, 6-0 win over Kei Nishikori of Japan. Murray completely dominated the Japanese and as a result, he will be facing David Ferrer in the final match.

In Wushu, Jessie Aligaga and Dembert Arcita won one gold medal each in their respective weight categories in the 2011 Wushu World Championships in Ankara, Turkey. Aligaga finished off David Grigoryan of Armenia in just two rounds to win the 48-kg. class. Arcita on the other hand, knocked out Tu Hong Hoang of Vietnam in the third round to finish first in the 52-kg class.

Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is facing a 650-thousand dollar lawsuit that was filed by the accounting firm, VisionQwest. The company claims that the Filipino boxing superstar didn’t pay the services that they provided after fixing his taxes last year in the United States.

Tennis: Murray defeats Nishikori, faces Ferrer in Shanghai final

Fourth-ranked Andy Murray of Great Britain will be aiming for a title against David Ferrer of Spain in the final round of the 2011 Shanghai Masters. Murray had an easy win over 47^th-ranked Kei Nishikori in the semifinal match, 6-3, 6-0, to enter the final.

Meanwhile, Ferrer pulled off another miracle with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3, win over Feliciano Lopez in the other semifinal match. Ferrer lost the first set, but he took control of the second and third sets to book a spot in the finals.

If Murray beats Ferrer in the finals, he will be replacing tennis legend Roger Federer in the number three spot in the world rankings.

The 24-year old Murray was just too good against Nishikori that he won all of his points in the first serve in the first set. In the second set, he was only broken once and he then went on to finish everything with little opposition from the 21-year old Japanese.

Even with the loss, Nishikori will become the highest-ranked Japanese male player after his superb stint in Shanghai.

In the other semifinal match, the world number five Ferrer had a hard time dealing with Feliciano’s slicing backhand in the first set. With the action going back and forth, both players were unable to break each other’s serve.

Unfortunately, Ferrer was unable to score a point in the tie-break after leading 4-1 and that’s when Feliciano made the move to steal the first set.

Ferrer bounced back in the second set to level the match at one-all and finally in the third set, Ferrer took advantage of a Feliciano backhand to let himself serve for the win.

With the win, the 29-year old Ferrer is now 2-6 against Feliciano in their last eight matches.

Wushu: Two Filipinos bag gold medals in Wushu Championships

In the recently concluded World Wushu Championship held in Ankara, Turkey; Jessie Aligaga and Dembert Arcita bagged the gold medal in the 48-kg. and the 52-kg. weight class.

Aligaga dominated David Grigoryan of Armenia in just two rounds to take the gold medal in the 48-kg. class while Arcita knocked out Tu Hong Hoang of Vietnam in the third round to finish on top of the 52-kg. category. Arcita unloaded a huge right that sent the Vietnamese crashing to the mat.

Aside from Aligaga and Arcita, other members of the Philippine team who won in the said tournament include Marianne Mariano and Mary Jane Estimar who bagged one silver medal each in the 52-kg. and 56-kg. division.

Last Thursday, Rhea Mae Rifani, Mark Eddiva and Benjie Rivera took bronze medals in the 48-kilogram, 65-kilogram, and 56-kilogram divisions.

Boxing: Pacquiao faces lawsuit filed by former accountants

Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is going for another fight, but this time around, he’ll do it inside the courtroom.

That’s because Pacquiao’s former accountants from VisionQwest Resources Group have filed a 650-thousand dollar lawsuit against him claiming that the Filipino boxing icon hasn’t settled the amount yet.

Pacquiao hired VisionQwest to take care of his finances and to audit Top Rank’s records, but he eventually decided to replace it with the Los Angeles accounting firm called Tanner, Mainstain, Blatt, and Glynn.

According to VisionQwest, the six-figure amount was loaned to Pacquiao, but he was unable to pay it back even after earning a lot of money in his previous fights.

Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s adviser, said that the boxer’s lawyers will take care of all the allegations from VisionQwest and they will also file countercharges against the company.

Koncz believes that VisionQwest has never informed Pacquiao and his management team the true story behind the Filipino star’s taxes. As a result, Pacquiao was forced to look for another accounting firm.

“P6253328.jpg” by Rakkhi Samarasekera c/o Flickr. Some rights reserved.