ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Manlapaz stamps class, advances to Intercol Round of 16

Manlapaz stamps class, advances to Intercol Round of 16

Published Aug 28, 2026 06:24 pm

At A Glance

  • University of Santo Tomas' Josh Manlapaz lived up to his billing as the top seed with a splendid performance after advancing to the next round of the collegiate men's singles at the 2026 Philippine Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Challenge on Friday,, Aug. 28, at the Home Court at Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.
University of Santo Tomas' Josh Manlapaz lived up to his billing as the top seed with a splendid performance after advancing to the next round of the collegiate men's singles at the 2026 Philippine Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Challenge on Friday,, Aug. 28, at the Home Court at Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.
The UAAP Season 87 Rookie of the Year bounced back from a hiccup in the tight second game to subdue San Beda University's Ace Gumabay, 11-6, 11-13, 11-2, 11-7, and clinch a spot in the Round of 16 later in the day.
"Honestly, nakaka-pressure kasi nga top seed ako. Inaasahan ring ako ng mga teammates ko na kaya kong manalo," said Manlapaz.
"Huwag lang patalo sa kaba at sana tapangan ko pa lalo," he added on what he needs to do to go all the way in the tournament, which is backed by Huaching Foundation, the Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Topcoms Marketing Inc., Mizuno Philippines, Cara Celine Dormtel, Gold Cross Security Agency, and Best Options Assistance Inc., along with Dino Jalandoni, Bombit Silva, and Eric Ongkauco.
Manlapaz, now one of the pillars of the reigning six-time UAAP champions, earlier dominated his group with a straight-set conquest of YING's Raul Mallen and a walkover win over De La Salle University-Dasmariñas' Carlos Batino VII.
The incoming Thomasian junior will face DLSU's Yves Reg, who defeated Philippine Women's University's Brent Melgarejo, 11-3, 11-1, 11-2, later this evening.
Elsewhere in the draw, up-and-coming stars also made their mark, with UST's Jebb Datahan and UP's Stephen Llemit securing spots in the last 16.
Both fresh off storied high school careers, Datahan and Llemit booked their tickets to the Round of 16 following clinical victories.
Datahan, a three-time UAAP High School Boys' MVP, swept Jose Rizal University's Dylan Pahimnayon, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7, while Llemit, a 2026 Palarong Pambansa multi-medalist, took down PWU's Alfredo Alejandre, 13-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1.
On the women's side, a former and the reigning UAAP MVP secured their spots in the main draw after sweeping their respective groups.
UAAP Season 86 top athlete DLSU's Angel Laude dominated DLSU-Dasmariñas' Georgina Turpin, 11-3, 11-3, 11-2, and UP's Maan Gomobao, 11-5, 11-3, 11-4.
Meanwhile, last year's MVP Chrishien Santillan of Far Eastern University waylaid Trisha Pachica of the Blue Paddlers, 11-2, 11-1, 11-5, and turned back PWU's Nicole Garcia, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.
In the high school division, familiar names also shone in the boys' singles.
UST stalwarts and top seeds Emmanuel Paculba Jr. and Joshua Banas secured outright places in the Round of 16 after sweeping their respective groups.
Paculba will face Liam Cabalu of Victory Christian International School, while Banas drew Ynigo Adriano of Centris for a place in the quarterfinals.
Selected matches can be viewed live on the CPlay app and the One Sports YouTube channel.

Related Tags

Josh Manlapaz
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.