Thursday, July 03, 2008 Asian hoops kicks off; Cesafi clarifies ‘stand’
ONE of the top contenders for the upcoming 6th Asian University Basketball Championship, the Huaqiao University, will be arriving today in preparation for the event slated on July 5 at the Cebu Coliseum Huaqiao which is based in Fujian, China, is one of the best teams in the China University Basketball Association.
This will be Huaqiao University’s second straight appearance in the AUBC, which was established in 1998. Last year, the Chinese team placed third behind South Korea’s Sangmu University and local bet Rizal Technological University in the University games held in Camarines.
The 6th AUBC Championship will be formally launched today at the Hotel Fortuna, which will be hosted by basketball patron Lorenzo “Chao” Sy. It will be graced by representatives from the local participating schools—University of the Visayas’ head coach Elmer “Boy” Cabahug and Southwestern University athletic director Ryan Aznar with commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy.
The event will run for five days and will also have stops in Bogo and Lapu-Lapu City.
The opening this weekend will be graced by Dr. Carl Menky Ching, who is considered the Father of Asian basketball and is a former Fiba president. Also attending this weekend’s opening are Basketball Association of the Philippines top honchos Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Congressman Luis Villafuerte, Wilson Young and Christian Tan.
Stand
South Korean great Shin Dong Pa, the president of Asian University Basketball Federation (AUBF), which has a members in more than 30 countries, will formally open the games following an inspiration talk to the participating teams.
Meanwhile, Tiukinhoy clarified that Cesafi’s joining the AUBC does not signify which side of the BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas faction they are taking.
Their are currently two factions in the BAP-SBP—the Pichay wing and the Manny V Pangilinan group—and each has its own sets of officers and stakeholders.
Although the AUBC is backed by the the Pichay wing, Tiukinhoy said that no sides are taken yet as far as Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. is concerned.
“We are still waiting for the documents that we asked from the BAP-SBP Manny Pangilinan side for clarification purposes. We were allowed to join this competition for basketball unity’s sake,” said Tiukinhoy.
Tiukinhoy is the Cesafi commissioner, who was also offered the commissionership post of the eight-day AUBC tournament. UV is the seven-time defending champion of the Cesafi.
Tiukinhoy earlier said that the Cesafi might support both factions since there is no clarity as to which faction really is the legitimate one. (MCB)
