Ex-kindergarten Teacher Laura Balin Gallantly Marches to World Title Opportunity

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Promotional debutante Laura “The Gladiadora” Balin, a well-rounded South American contender who has a phenomenal 90 percent finishing rate, is planning to shock the world as she squares off with a rising Chinese martial arts superstar in her maiden assignment under ONE Championship.

Balin is slated to challenge China’s Xiong Jing Nan for the ONE Women’s Strawweight World Championship in the main event of ONE: PINNACLE OF POWER, which takes place at the Studio City Event Center in Macau, China on 23 June.

Both competitors are known for their striking prowess as well as their grappling savvy, guaranteeing a thrilling action-packed encounter between the two female strawweights.

“This will be a fight of two cobras taking very careful shots at each other,” Balin stated. “I am sure it will be a very intense and interesting fight. I am sure that I will surprise everyone in my debut.”

The 38-year-old Argentinian hopes to make a huge impact in her ONE Championship debut as she will enter enemy territory with a chance to capture world title gold in her first promotional appearance.

Balin, who has faced some stiff competition in South America, has emerged with one of the most impressive records in the Latin American region.

Known by the moniker “The Gladiadora” due to his never-say-die attitude, she will be bringing her skills across the globe to test herself against the first-ever Chinese mixed martial arts world champion.

Prior to becoming one of South America’s most successful female mixed martial artists, Balin was a kindergarten teacher at a local school in Argentina.

A good mother to her two sons, who are now aged 18 and 14, Balin adored a simple kind of life, but things changed when her husband, Guillermo, convinced her to give kickboxing a try and offered to be her trainer.

It did not take long for Balin to fall in love with the striking discipline, and she soon decided to leave her teaching career behind for a new adventure in combat sports.

“I started practicing kickboxing in 2008 or 2009. I made my debut when I was 30 years old in that discipline, and in 2011, I began competing in mixed martial arts,” she shared. “I did have to make some changes in my life because I was a teacher. I taught at a school, and I had to leave that job to commit to this as long as possible.”

Balin acknowledged that she got a late start in mixed martial arts, but her dedication to the craft eventually turned her into one of the most talented strawweights in South America.

“It is a feeling that few have, knowing what to do. Very few people get that feeling. But when I started this, I suddenly knew what I wanted to do all my life,” she bared. ”Martial arts is in my blood. I had learned so many techniques that I wanted to try it.”

“I enjoy every day of practice in the gym. I love the constant challenges that this sport brings to me, so when it came to pursuing mixed martial arts professionally, I simply wanted to see how far I could go. It is an amazing experience,” Balin added.

Balin has experienced a tremendous amount of success since making her professional mixed martial arts debut in October 2011, compiling an eye-catching 10-2 record.

Out of her 10 total victories, nine have come by spectacular finish, including five submissions and four knockouts.

Balin will now leave her home country and travel thousands of miles across the world to challenge Xiong for her ONE Women’s Strawweight World Championship in Macau, China.

“Any goal that you want, you need to work towards it every day. Find that goal. Find that one thing that you are passionate about and hold on to it. You do not always need to get punched to follow your dream, but you do need to take a few blows with every goal that you really care about,” she said.

Even if she is setting foot on foreign soil for the first world title contest of her career, Balin assures that she is in no way intimidated with her opponent’s hometown advantage.

“It is not something I worry about really. It is more of an incentive. I do not really take into consideration if I am on the home side or the visitor side. I am going to give my best all the same,” she stressed.

Although Xiong may be riding a wave of momentum due to her impressive winning streak, Balin is not overly concerned about the opposition that is in front of her on 23 June.

“I see many ways that this fight could go,” she declared. “Fighters always need to be prepared for a variety of different outcomes. I have to get ready to beat her within five rounds. This will be a long fight, and I need to prepare for it.”

Balin may take a few blows from Xiong at ONE: PINNACLE OF POWER, but she cares about achieving victory and is willing to eat a few punches to get her arm raised with a gold-plated strap draped over her shoulder.

“Whenever I step inside the cage or ring, nobody knows what is going to happen, so I am focusing on getting the win, and not on the pressure of getting it. I am ready to fight for the title and bring it home to Argentina,” she concluded.

​For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.​ ​

The Shoppes at The Infinity: Newest Commercial District to Boost Pampanga’s Business and Tourism

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Set to highlight the commerce potential of Central Luzon, The Shoppes at The Infinity will soon excite with its distinctive offerings and good finds

Touted as the first and largest central business district at the heart of Central Luzon; Pampanga homegrown developer AC Beautiful Island Realty Development Corporation (ACBI) is unveiling its pilot development. The newest retail and commercial hub dubbed as The Shoppes at The Infinity is expected to be the next-go-to leisure destination in the region.

“The Shoppes, a sprawling retail strip within the upcoming vibrant fully-integrated city will offer 15,600 square meters of palatable delights, local and global boutique brands and service establishments making it not only a shopper’s paradise but a top-of-mind recreation experience,” said Byron John T. Siy, General Manager of ACBI Realty Development Corporation.

“We envision The Shoppes to complement the trade and investment prowess of The Infinity. As business and leisure are industries that now work side by side, we want to make sure that we are offering a complete and one-stop-shop destination at par with central business districts here and abroad,” added Siy.

Inspired by renowned mixed-used developments in the country whose success was driven by its commercial components, The Shoppes is anticipated to fire up the transformation of the area. The retail landscape will highlight a relaxed and nature-inspired atmosphere while satisfying the shopping and dining needs of the region.

The recreation zone will start construction as soon as mid of this year and the first phase is projected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2019. The shopping mecca will follow a modern contemporary design influence with the help of leading style firm LG+V Architects.
ACBI, the real estate arm of JENRA Group of Companies is the power behind The Infinity. They conceptualized the commerce district not only to open prospects for Pampanga but to serve as a commerce link of the region to the rest of Luzon. This can be owed to the strategic location of The Infinity at the gateway of Central Luzon and its direct connection to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) via the Angeles Exit.
The Infinity traverses the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat in Pampanga. Masterplanned by Palafox Associates, The Infinity will be a 40-hectare development that will soon house business, commercial, residential and all other dynamic features that completes a community.

Utilities at The Infinity are carefully tucked underground making the road networks functional and aesthetic. Moreover, sustainable features are also in place as the company follows the green building code.
In addition, The Infinity offers freehold ownership and long-term lease investment options.

SAP Announces New Suite of Solutions to Modernize CRM and a New Data Management Suite

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SAP SE fulfilled its ambition to disrupt the marketplace for customer relationship management (CRM) with the formal introduction of a new suite of applications, SAP® C/4HANA, to help businesses serve and retain customers. SAP also announced the SAP HANA® Data Management Suite, the industry’s first comprehensive data management solution that enables companies to turn data sprawl into business value. The announcement was made by SAP CEO Bill McDermott at the company’s annual SAPPHIRE NOW® conference.

SAP C/4HANA is an integrated offering designed to modernize the sales-only focus of legacy CRM solutions. Following the completed acquisitions of market leaders Hybris, Gigya and CallidusCloud, SAP now ties together solutions to support all front-office functions, such as consumer data protection, marketing, commerce, sales and customer service.

“SAP was the last to accept the status quo of CRM and is now the first to change it,” McDermott said. “The legacy CRM systems are all about sales; SAP C/4HANA is all about the consumer. We recognize that every part of a business needs to be focused on a single view of the consumer. When you connect all SAP applications together in an intelligent cloud suite, the demand chain directly fuels the behaviors of the supply chain.”

Building on the company’s reputation as an end-to-end business solutions provider, the new SAP C/4HANA suite will offer full integration with SAP’s business applications portfolio, led by its market-leading ERP suite, SAP S/4HANA®. The combination of assets features new machine learning capabilities from SAP Leonardo, a set of intelligent technologies the company introduced last year, as well as the new SAP HANA Data Management Suite, which enables companies to gain visibility and control of their highly distributed data. The company’s overall strategy, focused on helping businesses run as intelligent enterprises, highlights the demand for a balanced approach to automation in the workplace.

Expanding its customer service solutions offerings, SAP also announced it has acquired Switzerland-based Coresystems AG to improve field-service customer experience, especially in the manufacturing, energy, high-tech and telecommunications industries. Coresystems’ platform service provides real-time scheduling for customer-service requests and uses artificial intelligence-powered crowd-service technology. This broadens the service technician pool to include company employees, freelancers and industry partners to assign the best-qualified technician to each call by taking into account expertise, location and availability of the individual service expert.

These announcements come on the heels of Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect on May 25. The massive regulatory change has caused businesses to take a critical look at their legacy CRM investments.

Managing Data to Reach Customers

All systems rely on data, yet the challenge facing companies today is distributed data — data that is not just in transactional systems but scattered across products, machines and people. It is about data that must be ingested, prepared and made enterprise relevant. SAP HANA Data Management Suite enables enterprises to turn massive amounts of data — both structured and unstructured — into valuable, usable knowledge, no matter where it resides. SAP HANA Data Management Suite allows customers to maximize the potential of their data safely, simply and efficiently.

More About SAP C/4HANA

The SAP C/4HANA portfolio includes SAP Marketing Cloud, SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP Service Cloud, SAP Customer Data Cloud (including the acquired Gigya solutions) and SAP Sales Cloud (including the acquired CallidusCloud solutions). Additionally, SAP Sales Cloud unites the SAP Hybris® Revenue Cloud solution and SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer (comprised of SAP Hybris Sales Cloud and SAP Hybris Service Cloud solutions).

These cloud solutions — formerly on the market under the SAP Hybris brand name — as well as SAP’s commerce and customer engagement organization are now consolidated under the SAP Customer Experience business unit to support a consistent brand experience.