Game Changers: The top stories in Philippine sports in 2023 (Part 1)

From upset wins to historic triumphs to inspiring championship runs, 2023 had no shortage of stories to tell in Philippine sports.

Here's a list of the 10 biggest stories (in no particular order) to look back on in the year about to reach its finish line.

READ | Game Changers: The top stories in Philippine sports in 2023 (Part 2)

The FIBA World Cup returned to the Philippines after 45 years

For a country that has treated basketball almost as a religion, bringing one of the biggest hoops fixtures over to home soil felt like a long time coming.

The 2023 FIBA World Cup came back to the Philippines for the first time since 1978 and plenty of memorable moments unfolded, highlighted by the gallant run of the country's very own Gilas Pilipinas national team as well as the landmark title run of Germany in the global tournament held across three nations, including Japan and Indonesia.

Amid so much hype, Gilas struggled to convert their play to wins early as the Chot Reyes-mentored squad bowed to high-caliber teams such as world no. 18 Dominican Republic, no. 34 Angola, and no. 13 Italy in losses by an average margin of just 7.7 points.

In their first classification round assignment, they lost to a gutsy South Sudan side that wound up in 17th place in their World Cup debut while also punching a Paris Olympics ticket in the process.

But the Filipinos made sure to deliver in their next game, against their Asian basketball rivals China. Gilas, relying on the hot hands of Jordan Clarkson, secured its breakthrough victory, 96-75, as the Utah Jazz star tallied 34 points, built around five triples to put away the visiting team.

But while Gilas' run captured the hearts of many, another team was able to capture something bigger — the FIBA World Cup crown for the first time in their country’s history.

Germany was ranked 7th in FIBA's Power Rankings months before the World Cup proper and wasn't touted as among the favorites to win it all. But the gutsy squad led by NBA stars Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis, and brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner proved them wrong. Germany swept the entire tournament that included an upset semifinals win, 113-111, against perennial favorite USA before dealing stubborn Serbia a heartbreak in the finals, 83-77 to clinch the title.

But as new heroes emerged, some of the old guard bade goodbye to the sport. Legends like Luigi Datome of Italy and Hamed Haddadi of Iran both played their last game in their national uniforms, announcing their respective retirements.

From Manila to Okinawa to Jakarta, the 2023 FIBA World Cup sure left an indelible mark on each basketball fan's heart.

The Philippines still king of ML:BB

Just when everyone was starting to think that the Philippines’ era in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang scene might come to an end, the Filipinos proved otherwise.

With the M2 and M3 World Championships in the bag, Echo made a surprising run in the M4 in January, where the Orcas pulled off a stunning sweep against compatriot Blacklist International to reign supreme.

The country then extended its brilliance in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games stage when the core of Bren Esports represented the Philippines and dominated Malaysia to pluck the gold medal.

But during the ML:BB Southeast Asia Cup in June in Cambodia, that brilliance was nowhere to be found, sparking discussions that the Philippines was no longer the king of ML:BB as Indonesia's Onic Esports denied Blacklist to seize the title.

Onic won its third straight title in MPL Indonesia en route to the M5 World Championship held here in Manila, giving them reason to believe they had the manpower to finally take down the Philippine dynasty on the world level.

But reigning MPL Philippines champion AP Bren defied the odds as they survived a grueling seven-game series in front of a jam-packed Rizal Memorial Coliseum crowd to give the country its fourth straight M-series title.

In a span of a year, the Filipinos bagged two world titles, one SEA Games gold medal, and a runner-up finish in MSC — a clear waring to the rest of the world that the Philippine era is far from over.

EJ Obiena is HIM

2023 has been an eventful year for Filipino pole vault ace EJ Obiena — who soared to podiums and shattered records wherever he went.

Obiena kicked off the year the right way, claiming the gold medals in four of his first eight international competitions before shattering the SEA Games record in May after clearing 5.65 meters on the way to winning his third straight gold in the biennial event.

That wasn’t all for the Filipino athletics star.

Just after a month, the 28-year-old superstar joined an elite club after soaring past 6.00 meters in the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump in Norway before grabbing the top plum in the Asian Athletics Championship in July and the Asian Games in September.

He also collected a silver medal in the World Athletics Championship in Hungary with a 6.00-meter performance.

He closed out the year as the second-ranked pole vault athlete behind Sweden's Mondo Duplantis.

But 2023 may just serve as a prelude of what's to come for Obiena as he is also among the first few Filipinos who have already clinched a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics following a second place finish in the BAUHAUS-Galan leg of Diamond League last July.

Creamline: The cream of the crop

Whether at full strength or not, the Creamline Cool Smashers will always be a force to be reckoned with and their 2023 campaign shows just how and why.

The wards of head coach Sherwin Meneses uncorked the year with a bang, going almost unbeaten in the 2023 PVL First All-Filipino Conference after dropping just one game in the preliminary round before sweeping F2 Logistics in the semifinals and surviving Petro Gazz in the finals to capture its fourth crown in the season-opening conference.

But the following conference saw Creamline grapple with a serious threat to its Grand Slam bid.

Creamline, the winningest franchise in the league, was pitted against Japanese guest team Kurashiki Ablaze in the championship match of the 2023 Invitational Conference and despite monster performances from Tots Carlos, Celine Domingo, and Jema Galanza, the Cool Smashers faltered in five sets to be denied the rare feat.

But the Cool Smashers regrouped in the season-ending 2nd All-Filipino Conference amidst the absence of main setter Jia De Guzman and middle blocker Ced Domingo, who were both playing as imports overseas, as well as the injury battles of team captain Alyssa Valdez.

Bucking a manpower shortage, Creamline rose to the occasion by dominating the last conference in a sweep to make it a fifth All-Filipino crown.

Ginebra: Kings slay the Dragons

In early 2023, Barangay Ginebra's 'never say die' mantra was put to the test.

Ginebra arranged a finals duel against a powerhouse guest team, the Bay Area Dragons, in the 2022-2023 PBA Commissioner's Cup and it all came down to a do-or-die Game 7.

In front of a record crowd of 54,589 at the historic Philippine Arena in Bulacan, Ginebra, which finished third in the eliminations, seemed unbothered by the giant that was the Dragons.

They led by as many as 22 points and never relinquished en route to a 114-99 victory that saw Justin Brownlee explode for 34 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, and three blocks.

Ginebra's win spoiled what had been a dominant run by the Bay Area, which topped the regular season with an impressive 10-2 card, only bowing to Ginebra and Meralco, before sending Rain or Shine and San Miguel home in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News