Tragedy & ecstasy

By Al Mendoza

THE sporting nation is both in mourning and in a celebratory mood.  What a surreal mix.

 Sadly, two basketball players from Ateneo de Manila University died in a drowning accident just days ago in a beach in Pinakulao, Aurora.  They were rookie Bert Baterbonia from Mindanao and import Divine Adili from Nigeria.

 Beaches in Aurora teem with angry and roaring waves that is why Baler, the provincial capital, is known as the nation’s surfing capital.  I should know.  I was there only a couple weeks back. 

 You don’t swim there or you risk getting gobbled up by screaming waves as tall as Victor Wembanyama.  You surf there, period.  Or just enjoy watching waves rushing to the shore.  Seated in a director’s chair in the sand. Ice-cold beer in hand.

 As of this writing, no detailed reports as to how the tragedy happened.  The Ateneo basketball team was there reportedly for a team-building activity.

 What I know is, swimming is being done in a team-building program using a swimming pool; it’s never done in a beach that is notoriously wave-infested and fit only for surfing.

 Whenever deaths like these happen in sports, a part of us, dies, too.  The pain just doesn’t go away like the blowing wind; it lingers, hurting life’s threads to the core.

 I deeply condole with the grieving families of Baterbonia, 18, and Adili, 20.  I pray for the eternal repose of their souls.

 And now the good, happy, news.

 We salute Alex Eala for beating Nikola Bartunkova, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, to win the Lexus Birmingham Open on Sunday at the Edgbaston Priory Club in England.

 The win ended Eala’s 13-match losing streak against Czech opponents since she turned pro last year—although it pinched Eala’s heart a little as Bartunkova was her doubles partner in the same event.

Eala’s former Czech tormentors include former Wimbledon champions Barbora Krejcikova and Marketa Voundrosova and Karolina Muchova.  Muchova beat Eala in the Miami Open last March in the Round of 16.

“I would have wanted to win this together (with Nikola),” said Eala, tightly embracing Bartunkova at center court after the match.

 Eala and Bartunkova, both 21, lost to the British pair of Dart Harriet and Maia Lumsden 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 in the Round of 16 on June 1.

A big bonus accompanied Eala’s June 7 victory as it came exactly nine months after she won her first WTA 125 victory last year.

 This was on Sept. 7, 2025, when Eala rallied to defeat Hungary’s Panna Udvardy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Guadalajara, Mexico—the first triumph by a Filipino in a WTA event.

 But a bigger bonus came Eala’s way when her Lexus win in Birmingham fattened her bank account to $19,700 (roughly P1.21 million)—besides earning 125 more points that would surely improve her 37th WTA ranking.

 “Lifting this trophy only makes me more motivated to keep on working,” said Eala.  “I’m so really honored to lift this trophy today.”

Before beating Bartunkova, Eala’s victims were Australia’s Pricilla Hon 6-0, 6-2 in the Round of 32; Russia’s Alina Charaeva 6-2, 7-5 in the Round of 16; Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the quarterfinal 6-3, 6-2; and, Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinal.

 Next tournament is the main draw of the 2026 WTA 500 HSBC Championship in London set from June 8-14 at The Queen’s Club in West Kensington.

Go, get ‘em, Alex!

 THAT’S IT  Because it has the momentum, and propped up by Justin Brownlee’s bamboozling 41-point effort in a Game 3 victory on Sunday, Barangay Ginebra may yet win again today for a decisive 3-1 lead over TNT in the Philippine Basketball Association’s Commissioner’s Cup…And in the National Basketball Association, San Antonio bounced back yesterday with a 115-111 win to cut New York’s lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven Finals.  It was a pride-laden win as it came in NY’s turf, the famed Madison Square Garden.   

Match lasted 2 hours 38 minutes.

 Won at Edgbaston Priory Club in England.