The favorites may hold the edge, but the challengers have every reason to believe they can shake up the 2026 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League semifinals.
Third-seeded Biñan-Tatak Gel and fourth-seeded RK Hoops-Quezon City 10ACT enter their respective best-of-three semifinal series determined to draw first blood against the league’s top two teams beginning Sunday at the Parañaque Coliseum.
RK Hoops-Quezon City 10ACT gets the first opportunity to pull off an upset when it takes on top-seeded Akari-Rizal at 4 p.m., before Biñan-Tatak Gel faces defending champion and No. 2 seed Batangas-New Zealand Bluefire at 6 p.m. in the tournament backed by Aktive.
Despite finishing lower in the standings, both challengers are confident they have what it takes to dethrone the league’s top contenders.
“They’re the number one team so ‘yung respect namin sa kanila for being the number one, mataas ang respeto namin,” said RK Hoops-Quezon City 10ACT head coach Bonnie Garcia, whose team is coming off a gritty 53-49 quarterfinal victory over No. 5 seed Pasig.
History, however, has not been on RK Hoops-Quezon City 10ACT’s side. The squad lost both of its elimination-round meetings against Akari-Rizal—a 84-50 blowout in the first round followed by an 89-72 defeat in the second.
Still, the quarterfinal win may have given the Quezon City-based squad exactly what it needed entering the semifinals: confidence.
Without star forward Tantoy Ferrer, RK Hoops relied on Jeorge Panti, Ann Dampios, Iris Isip, and the rest of its supporting cast to clinch a semifinal berth, showcasing the team’s depth. With Ferrer expected to return for the series, the squad hopes a healthier lineup and renewed belief will finally allow it to challenge the league-leading Sparks.
“We will challenge them. I-cha-challenge namin sila and we’ll see what happens. Basta kung complete naman kami, lumalaban kami and nagiging positive naman ang nangyayari,” Garcia said.
Akari-Rizal, meanwhile, has looked every bit the championship favorite behind the veteran core of Allana Lim, Raiza Palmera-Dy, Mar Prado, and Janine Pontejos.
But despite possessing the firepower to overwhelm any opponent, the Sparks know they cannot afford to underestimate a confident and rejuvenated RK Hoops-Quezon City 10ACT squad.
“Yung effort na maglaro kami as a whole team, as a unified team, together, ‘yun ang iko-continue namin papunta sa semis. Tatrabahuhin namin ‘yun para makuha namin ‘yung ultimate goal na mag-champion this season,” Lim said.
(C) WMPBL
While RK Hoops-Quezon City 10ACT aims to topple the league’s top seed, fellow challenger Biñan-Tatak Gel faces an equally daunting assignment against defending champion Batangas-New Zealand Bluefire after eliminating Caloocan, 87-74, in the quarterfinals.
The Angels, however, know the blueprint for beating the Valkyries—they have already done it once this season. Biñan-Tatak Gel handed Batangas-New Zealand Bluefire its first elimination-round loss, 83-79, before the defending champions responded with a 92-85 victory in their second meeting.
While that first-round triumph proved the Valkyries are beatable, Angels head coach Jack Azcueta knows repeating the feat in a best-of-three semifinal series will require an even greater effort.
“Of course, knowing coach Cholo and the whole Batangas, alam naman natin na sobrang established na nila so susubok kami. Susubok kami na maduplicate ‘yung elimination-round win namin sa kanila,” Azcueta said.
“Basta kagaya nga nung sinabi ko na i-make sure namin na paghahandaan namin para kung ano ‘man maging result ng laro, sisigarudahin naming mahihirapan ‘yung kalaban,” he added.
If Biñan-Tatak Gel is to pull off another upset, it will once again need a balanced effort from Luisa San Juan, Monique Del Carmen, Chack Cabinbin, Eka Soriano, and Ara Abaca, the core that has powered the team’s impressive campaign.
Standing in the Angels’ way is a battle-tested Valkyries squad bannered by reigning MVP Afril Bernardino, along with Khate Castillo and Snow Peñaranda.
As the race to the finals begins, the favorites will look to live up to expectations, while the challengers seek to prove that their semifinal runs are far from over.
