Members of Cebu’s media industry coming from various news and radio outlets pose for a group photo during the opening ceremony of the Press Freedom Week Basketball and Volleyball Tournaments. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The annual Press Freedom Week Basketball and Volleyball Tournaments kicked off on Sunday, August 18, at the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Gym, with XFM and SunStar Cebu securing early victories in their respective sports.
Defending basketball champions XFM continued their dominance by defeating dyHP/Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), 48-35, in their Bracket A opener, setting the tone for the tournament.
The day went from bad to worse for dyHP/RMN, as they also suffered a loss in the volleyball tournament, falling to the defending champion, SunStar Cebu, in a thrilling three-set match, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12.
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In the other volleyball action, the Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN) delivered a solid performance, defeating the Mixed Team with scores of 25-17 and 25-16.
Meanwhile, dySS/GMA-7 cruised past MyTVCebu, securing a dominant victory with set scores of 31-6 and 25-11.
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The basketball tournament saw more exciting matchups, with Brigada FM overpowering Bombo Radyo/dyLA/dyKC, 48-35, in another Bracket A clash.
In Bracket B, CCTN took full advantage of an undermanned MyTVCebu team, rolling to a 47-18 win.
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The day’s most thrilling basketball game came from dySS/GMA-7, who escaped SunStar Cebu with a 67-63 overtime victory, wrapping up the opening day with a fitting back-and-forth hardcourt battle.